On the Road Again

It seems like lately, we have done nothing but travel, travel, travel. As I mentioned in last night’s blog post, I’m currently visiting my grandmother for her birthday. In a few short hours, I will be leaving here to visit my grandfather for a few days. From there, I’ll return home with only two days to spare before I head off to New Jersey for my Duncan Hines’ trip.

Following my Duncan Hines’ trip, I’ll have less than two weeks before I head to my grandfather’s house again, and from his house, I will head down to my annual vacation destination, a full 11 hours from his house (which is four hours away from my house).

The trip I’m currently on comes only a couple of weeks after my last trip down to visit each of my grandparents.

It seems that time has truly been moving very quickly, that I’ve been on the road much of the past couple of months, and it seems I will continue to be on the road for the month to come. It is so wonderful getting to see family and friends, and getting to travel to unique destinations and try out new places that I can enjoy.

What is difficult is those times when you come home, unpack your bags, throw the dirty items into the laundry, and as those are washing, re-pack your bags with clean clothing because in a few short days, you’ll be leaving again. We have been keeping our bags packed almost non-stop, and it seems some days that we are living our of our luggage at times. Some times we will get home and pack for two or three of our trips at once, because there’s just not enough time between them to re-pack, so we pack in different bags and grab the next one upon arriving home.

So, sometimes, when I’m away for a day or two, it’s not because I don’t love you, because I’m neglecting my blog. My internet access is spotty at times, but I assure you I have many great blog posts coming your way.

Is summer a busy traveling season for you? What sort of travel plans do you have coming up?

Tags: annual vacation, travel, travel travel travel, vacation

Happy Birthday, Grandma! (With German Chocolate Filled Cupcake recipe)

Today is my grandmother’s birthday! I’m so blessed to be visiting her today to celebrate with her! Growing up, my grandmother was a huge fixture in my life. I have many memories of spending time with her when I was younger.

Grandma holding me the day I was born. 

At one point when I was younger, I would spend the night at my grandparents’ house every Friday. Sometimes, my mother would drop me off at grandma’s workplace at the time. I would sit in her office and file paperwork, or at least, pretend I was. After grandma would get off of work, we’d go home and spend time together. I had two nightgowns at my grandmother’s house… one was brown flannel, and one was satin and pink. Each Saturday morning, we would clean up the house, just the basic tasks like washing windows and dusting. I would wear my brown flannel gown and pretend to be Cinderella, and then when the cleaning was finished, I’d change into the pink gown because, to me, it looked more like a ball gown or pretty gown, and it meant my Cinderella transformation was complete.

Visiting Grandma one day.

Grandma and I would also often play restaurant. She would get a notepad of paper and pen, and write down my “order” for breakfast. As I grew up, when my grandmother moved to an apartment, much closer to our favorite bookstore, it was not unusual for me to spend a weekend with her, and wake up in the morning, head to the bookstore when it opened at 10, sit around reading and drinking coffee drinks, and stay there until 10 at night when they would close up and ask us to leave. At the bookstore, I would often get a huge stack of books and read a chapter of each, pruning it down from about 20 to 5 or 6. It was nothing for us to spend a full day there, and as I ran around the store reading chapters of various books to decide which ones I wanted, she would instead sit there with one book, typically a Sue Grafton novel, and read the entire thing.

In addition to helping foster my love of reading by taking me to bookstores for long hours (Borders was our favorite, and we were both so sad to see it go), my grandmother also inspired a great love for theatre by taking me to many, many theatre productions. I can’t even count the number of productions of West Side Story I’ve seen anymore.

On the way to a theatre production.

One of my favorite anecdotes about my grandmother is the time we went on a cruise when I was younger. My parents shared one cabin, and my grandmother and I shared the other. Our cabin had a window, and one day when we were docking in the Bahamas, we woke early to watch out our window. Because the cruise had free room service, we ordered breakfast, and sat and ate breakfast as we watched our boat come into port. After enjoying our breakfast by the window, we started to get tired, and decided to go back to bed for a few hours. We woke up, we ordered breakfast like we did every morning, and halfway through, we realized that we were eating breakfast for the second time. On many occasions, we have thought back on that day fondly, talking about the day we ate breakfast twice.

In the Bahamas, on the beach near the Atlantis resort.

A couple of years ago, we had the good fortune to travel on a bus tour to New York City. It was my second visit to the city, but her first. It was incredible traveling with her, my aunt Carol, and Uncle Freeman. We were able to explore the city and really have a lot of fun seeing everything New York City had to offer. Our hotel was within walking distance of both Central Park and Times Square. It was about five blocks from Times Square, and five in the opposite direction to Central Park. It was just incredible to get to see the city, and the travel there was a lot of fun. I took so many photographs on that trip!

On the bus to New York City.

My grandmother was the fifth child born into her family of all girls. She had four older sisters, Faye, Carol, Glenda, and Carlene, with her being the fifth. Each time, her parents came up with a name for a male child, and each time, it was a female and they had to adjust it. Faye was Norma Faye, her male counterpart name being Norman. Carol Dean, naturally, was supposed to be a Dean had she been a boy. Glenda Maye was a Glen. Carlene’s male counterpart name was Carl, and Myria Francis, well, was to be Francis. They grew up in a small town in Missouri, called Seymour.

Clockwise from top left: Carol, Glenda, Carlene, my Grandmother Myria, Faye

Recently, I began interviewing my grandparents about their lives and their childhoods, curating stories to document for the future. I got to hear some incredible stories about my grandmother’s childhood, and I want to share them with you, in her own words.

My grandmother, seated on her mother’s lap, with her parents and sisters.

Faye once made me get a spanking, but it wasn’t my fault. Mother had gone in to take a nap, and told Faye to watch us, since she was the oldest. So, with the mean old sisters I had, I asked if I could go down to Grandma Davis’ house, since she lived just over a block away. Faye said I could go, so I did. When mother woke up, she asked where I had gone, and Faye said “I don’t know. She was here, and then she just left. She didn’t say anything to me. She just left.” So, other came looking for me, and found me at Grandma Davis’ and spanked me all the way home.

I must take this point to share that, many times, Grandma mentions having “mean old sisters.” Grandma and her sisters are incredibly close. Faye passed away as a result of complications from ALS, and Carlene passed away of cancer. Both of those losses still weigh very heavily on our family’s hearts, and especially my grandmother’s. But her sisters, oh, her sisters. She loves them more than anything, and so when she says things like that, it’s always very tongue-in-cheek.

Grandma also told me a story once about her walk to school, which provides some insight into those “Uphill Both Ways” tales.

I always walked to school. All of us girls did, and we had to cross the railroad track. There was even an incline up to the railroad track. When we were growing up and would have to cross that, it seemed like it was so high. When it was icy, it would be impossible to get up the incline! Then, 20 to 30 years later, we went back there, to walk up the incline, and it was barely an incline at all.

My grandmother, the entire time I’ve known her, has had some very precocious qualities to her. The story below, I think, really features that in her.

I skipped school one time, I was in grade school. Well, it was before we moved to Springfield, so I guess it was grade school. I was so smart, that when I skipped school, where do you think I went? To my granma and granddad Sims, which was across town. I don’t know how they did it, because they didn’t have a phone, but soon, Daddy showed up at their house. The principal had a paddle that was about two feet long, and had little holes drilled into it, so when I came back to school the next day, I was called into the principal’s office. What was really bad about that is the principal and his wife were close friends with my parents and would come over to my parents’ house. When I got called into the office, he handed me a pen, because whenever you were paddled at school, you had to write your name on the paddle. I knew, just knew, I was going to get paddled. I wrote my name on it, and he said “This is just a warning. Don’t do it again.” So, luckily I didn’t get a spanking. But, yeah, I just had to go to my grandparents’ house when I was skipping school, didn’t I.

My grandmother, a precocious little girl.

I’ll leave you with just one more anecdote about her today. I also got the opportunity to hear a little bit about each of my grandmother’s parents, so she could tell me some special things she remembered about them.

My dad was a very smart, learned, educated man. Not formally educated, but self-educated, especially on the Bible. He was a very kind man, loved music. He sang bass in several different quartets and performed and sang solos in church. He was a very good singer. He loved his family very much and always made sure he provided for them. He worked for a milk company, worked several years for Carnation, then Cloverleaf for a little while, and retired working at Highland. He taught five daughters how to drive. He raised his five daughters to fear God and have a personal relationship with Him. My mother was very quiet, a very quiet person. She had a fantastic sense of humor. She loved life, loved her family, and just enjoyed life, truly enjoyed it. She was a great cook. I probably resemble my mother the most, except I’m not nearly the cook that she was. But I’m probably most like my mother.

My grandmother’s “mother and daddy.”

My grandmother is a huge part of my life, and someone I love quite a bit. She truly is a wonderful person and a great influence on my life. It’s harder now that she has moved three hours away, because I grew up spending a lot of time with her when I was younger, but she and I still enjoy spending time together and I love the great memories I’ve had with her.

Here are a few other fun photographs I was able to find of my grandmother.

(I’m always making fun of her curtains in the image above).

Happy birthday to you, Grandma! I cannot thank you enough for the support and love that you’ve given me through the years. I appreciate your comments on my blog and all of the support you’ve given me with my blogging and my goals for the future. I love you, Grandma!

For my grandmother’s birthday, I decided to make some very special cupcakes. My grandmother loves German Chocolate Cake. Fun fact, it’s actually not from Germany, but instead is named after Sam German, the man who created the chocolate that was once used in the recipe. I decided to do a pseudo-German chocolate filled cake. My cake recipe is modified off of one from Hershey’s website. It’s based off of their recipe to their “Perfectly Chocolate” cake.

The recipe kind of sounded a little odd to me, but it is truly a very soft, moist, and incredibly chocolate cake. Bear with me, as odd as the recipe sounds, it produces one of the best sets of cupcakes I’ve ever made.

2 Cups Sugar
1 ¾ Cups All-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 Cup cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 Cup milk
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 C boiling water

Start by heating your oven to 350 degrees F. Fill your cupcake tin with liners, or grease it. I prefer using liners because it’s easier for batter to crawl up the paper than it is for it to cling to a metal pan, so cupcakes baked with a liner rise higher.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, pudding, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add your eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla, then beat for a couple of minutes. Stir in the vinegar quickly to activate the baking soda. Now pour in your boiling water. It will make for a very thin batter. At first, it kind of made me nervous how thin it was, but it ended up making some great cupcakes, so don’t get too worried about it! Plus, the batter smells incredible after you pour that water in!

Fill your cups between 2/3 and ¾ of the way full with the batter. Bake them for 25 minutes, and cool completely.

For the filling, I decided to use a modified version of the Coconut Pecan Frosting from Back To Her Roots. Her frosting recipe tasted delicious, but it was sort of soupy, which is why I provided for the modification below. However, if her recipe comes out perfectly for you, you may not end up having to use my modified technique and may be able to use the frosting perfectly like she did. Her recipe was positively incredible, though, even soupy, which is why I decided to use it instead of switching to a different recipe.

3 Egg Yolks
1 Cup packed brown sugar
12 tablespoons butter (1 ½ sticks), cut into pats
1 (12 oz) can Evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of Salt
1 ½ cups pecans, chopped
2 cups toasted flake coconut (I used sweetened, but her recipe calls for unsweetened. I would say it’s up to your personal preference).

Combine your yolks, evaporated milk, butter, and brown sugar in your medium saucepan, keeping the heat low. Cook and stir constantly until the butter is melted, and all ingredients combine completely. Remove from heat.

Stir in your vanilla and salt, and then add coconut and pecans. Stir until it’s well-combined. Transfer this to a bowl and refrigerate until it’s cool throughout. Make sure you allow for a lot of time for this to stay in the refrigerator. I refrigerated mine for 10 hours. If you can get it to go overnight, that would be best.

If, after refrigerating it for a very long time, it’s still soupy, grab a strainer and strain off all of the excess liquid. I’m going to tell you right now, you should save it, because the liquid is incredible for coffee, ice cream, everything. It is a truly delicious liquid.

To fill the cupcakes, you need to grab a sharp knife, cut into the cupcake at an angle (about 45 degree angle) and cut a cone shape out of the middle of the cupcake. If you cut it too deep, you might puncture the bottom of the cupcake, and that would be bad news, so make sure you’re careful to cut into the cupcake deep enough to give you a lot of filling, but not so deep that there’s no cupcake to go with it.

Once you’ve got the cone out of the cupcake, fill ‘er up with that delicious coconut pecan filling.

Grab the part of the cupcake you cut out, and cut the cone shape off so you’re left with a flat piece. Put that on top of the filling, and viola, you’re back to an easy-to-frost surface.

Back to her roots also has an incredible ganache recipe on her website that you could choose to frost your cupcakes with. I tried to make it, twice, and it was pure liquid, even after letting it stay in the fridge for about 7 hours (her recipe suggests two). If you can get the ganache to work (and I’m sure it does… I’m just ganache-challenged). Worst-case scenario, if her ganache doesn’t work, then you can put about 5 spoonfuls into a cup, and add your coffee… instant mocha!

Because the ganache didn’t work, I have a confession… I used some store-bought icing to use on the top. I grabbed my star tip, my decorating bag (it’s fancy. I take a quart-sized Ziploc, cut a corner off, nest my star tip in it, and spoon the frosting in), and my favorite Duncan Hines chocolate icing. I’m pretty brand-loyal when it comes to store-bought frostings, and Duncan Hines is where it’s at. I whipped up the icing so it would be nice and fluffy, and I piped it onto my cupcakes. Then, I took it that extra step and sprinkled each cupcake with a little touch of coconut (the coconut also helped so I could tell the filled and un-filled cupcakes apart… my little brother isn’t a fan of coconut and pecans, so I left several cupcakes unfilled for him).

And that, my friends, is my perfect kind-of German chocolate filled cupcakes. I hope some of you will be able to use this recipe in order to make a birthday special for someone as special to me as my grandmother!

Tags: visiting grandma

Joyus: A New Way to Shop Online

In my recent Citrus Lane review, I mentioned the fact that Citrus Lane subscribers got a $15 Joyus gift card in the boxes. At first, like I said, I wasn’t too thrilled because my first glance on the site seemed like there were several items out of my price range. However, after doing some digging, I found some incredible deals that got me very excited to use my gift card.

Tonight, I finally spent it, and I am so happy I did. See, I was just looking for a great way to transport cupcakes to church functions or when visiting relatives, and I keep attempting to make it work with an existing caddy I have, but I’ve really had my eye on a cupcake caddy for a long time.

I was thrilled to see that one of the current items on Joyus was a Wilton 3-in-1 Caddy that would carry cupcakes, mini cupcakes, or a cake! And hey, I like to bake all of those things!

If you haven’t been to the Joyus website, you really should check it out. Let me ask you this. Have you ever ordered jewelry online? Perhaps tried to buy an 18″ necklace, and, when it arrived, found out that an 18″ necklace is a lot shorter than you thought it was? Have you ever thought that something looked different online than it did in person, clothing that had a different pattern or flow than it did in a still picture, or wondered how else you could use an item? The best thing about Joyus is that it fixes these little problems with online shopping, because instead of just showing you a picture of the item, Joyus presents you a video shopping experience.

If you’re buying a flawless finish beauty product, it shows you how to use it. If you’re buying a home organizing system, it shows you exactly what it looks like, and that you can probably fit your favorite coffee mug underneath it. It truly does take the guesswork out of online shopping, because you can clearly see it. Perhaps you’re buying a sweater. Rather than showing you just a close-up photo of the sweater, Joyus takes you through what pieces you can wear with that sweater to make it a cohesive outfit.

Joyus also curates their products very carefully, and has some incredible select brands (hint: Citrus Lane is one of the brands they’ve featured!) They really work hard to make sure that the products they sell are the best of the best. Joyus is really worth checking out.

If you are interested in checking Joyus out, I’d love it if you would check it out via my referral link. If you click through on my link, you’ll get $10 to spend! I also found some great discount codes on RetailMeNot, so before you check out, be sure to check there and see if you can save a few extra dollars… My cupcake caddy was $19.99 plus $5.00 shipping, but after the gift card from Citrus Lane and a 20% off code I found online, I spent only $5.99 for my caddy!

I really hope you check out Joyus and see what all the fuss is about… it’s a worthwhile site and it truly makes online shopping easy. In fact, Joyus helped me decide exactly what I want to get for dinner party hostesses, my dad, and more, by curating some really great gift guides. I know you’re going to love their website, so go check it out already!

Disclaimer: My referral link above earns me Joyus credit to spend on their site. By clicking it, you also earn credit to purchase items on Joyus. It’s a win-win for both of us.

Tags: clothing, shopping, style, video shopping

Hey there, Delilah, what’s it like in New York City?

I just got my itinerary for my trip to visit the Duncan Hines test kitchen near New York! I couldn’t wait to share it with my readers, so I decided first thing this morning that I would tell you all about what I’m going to experience on my trip.

I will be getting up incredibly early, because I have to leave my house no later than 6:30 in the morning. (Yeah, usually Zach and I wake up around 9). I will be heading to the airport and departing around 8:30. I’ll make the trip to Chicago first, around 10 in the morning (oh, dear! The last time I flew into that airport, I was stuck there for 13 hours between mechanical failures and planes just getting lost… how exactly do you lose a plane?) and taking off from Chicago just before noon. At around 3, I will arrive at Newark, and I will have a driver (yes, I love that they used that wording… a driver. I feel so… fancy!) waiting for me at my baggage claim, not that I will have any baggage… I’m trying to stick with carry-on only so I don’t have to worry about getting my baggage where it’s going.

So, about my driver. He’s going to be from Flyte Tyme Limo. Seriously, take a second to look at their fleet. I’m pretty sure those are some sexy cars. Now, I’ve ridden in some really cool cars and everything before. Don’t get me wrong, I swear I’m not a total shut-in. I am just incredibly excited about the VIP (or, rather, VIB– Very Important Baker) status that Duncan Hines is treating me and my fellow winners with.

That evening, after we all arrive, we will be transported over to Delicious Heights in Bedminster, NJ. This restaurant looks awesome, and it looks like it’s going to be a fun evening out with my fellow winners (I still don’t know who they are, but I am so thrilled to meet them!)

The next day, the exciting stuff starts happening, y’know, in case the first half wasn’t exciting enough for you…

Here’s a peek at the things I will get to participate in when I’m in New Jersey (yeah, I’m not actually going to make it quite to New York City… I’ll just be very close!)

• Tour of the Duncan Hines state-of-the-art test kitchen
• Learn about new products coming soon from Duncan Hines
• Sample my way through their flavor selection process with the production team
• Decorate at a Technique and Decorating class with the Duncan Hines chefs

During that time, we will have a lot going on (it will be a very busy day) so we will end up eating lunch there… and the dessert? They’re making our prize-winning recipes! I am so excited to see how the chefs envision my award-winning recipe, and how it translates to their skill and effort.

And then, it will be time to return home… I’ll be flying out just before 6:30, getting back to Chicago before 8:30, leaving there just after 10 at night, and arriving at my home airport after 11:30. I’ll get back to my own home just before 1 in the morning, cuddling up with my sweet baby boy, and going to bed.

I did want to give you a few disclaimers now… first, I want to share with you that I will be so busy on the actual weekend, that I don’t know if I will be able to tell you all about it while I’m there. My hope is to come home, rest, and then hopefully blog about it the next day. Oh, and legally, I can’t give you a sneak peek at the products coming soon from Duncan Hines, until Duncan Hines announces the products themselves… but I am sure there will be plenty of great information and my feelings about the trip that I can share with you all! Stay tuned to find out more about my trip, and to find out how it all went right after my trip! I am so excited I could almost pass out from all of the excitement!

Tags: travel

Review: Fun in the Sun with Citrus Lane

First off, I want to apologize for not posting a review of the Citrus Lane box before this. We loved the box, but I had been dealing with a lot of the family health issues I’ve been posting about and just did not get to post the review of that particular box. If you are hoping to find out a little more about what was in last month’s box, make sure you check out Citrus Lane’s blog! They reveal the contents of each of the boxes after ship week, so you’ll be able to check out their great products from month to month.

Now, onto the important part… this month’s box! The theme this month was Fun in the Sun, and trust me, the contents of this month’s box were amazing. I know we’re going to get years of use out of some of the items we received! Disclaimer: Because Citrus Lane is tailored to meet your child’s gender and age, you may receive different items than the items I list in my review. Items you receive may have a different color or pattern, or you may get items that are more age-appropriate to your child. My 10 month old boy will likely not get the same contents as your 2 month old girl or your 24 month old boy, etc. 

Zach was really digging this month’s unwrapping process, and he was very excited to tear back the bright yellow tissue paper. In some ways, I long for the days when he didn’t destroy the paper on sight, because I could save it and re-use it for gift giving (I know, I’m a cheapskate- if I can re-use tissue paper from things like this to avoid buying it, I will!) But, the joy he gets in systematically tearing it, throwing it, playing peek-a-boo with it, and more is absolutely worth it to me!

iPlay Baby Wear Sun Protection Hat, $15.00

The first item we pulled out of the box was a fantastic Sun Protection Hat from iPlay. Just days before receiving the box, my mother and I had discussed that Zach would be needing a hat now that it’s summer… we even looked at hats in the store, but we just could not find the “right hat.” I wanted one that Zach wouldn’t pull off (in store, he even figured out how to undo the velcro straps on the hats). I wanted one with some sun protection, not just shade. I wanted one that looked adorable (but, what doesn’t look adorable on my little munchkin?).

Available from www.iPlaybabywear.com, $15.00

Enter the iPlay sun protection hat. Not only was our hat reversible, but it also provides SPF 50+ protection! It is the perfect hat for us, especially because Zach got his very fair skin from me. He needs the added protection! Oh, and the fact that it ties instead of velcros? Well, that has been keeping it on for now.

Citrus Lane subscribers also got a code for 20% off at www.iPlaybabywear.com, which is awesome! We are hoping to use it to pick up some swimwear.

Green Toys Stacking Cups, $10.99

I’m just going to throw this out there… this is my absolute favorite item in this month’s box. It is so cool. Did I mention it’s fun and made from recycled milk jugs and also that it’s completely educational? Yup, you heard me right. It’s a totally educational toy.

From www.greentoys.com, $10.99

First off, at this age, Zach has a blast with me stacking up the cups, and letting him knock them down. We already have a blast with that. He’s quickly learning that he can also stack them on top of each other to build tall towers, and that they can nest together. Plus, of course, he loves to gum them (we’re still working on those teeth!) However, come summer, they’re going to make incredible toys for the water, since you can fill them up and dump them out. These toys are perfect for sand and water play.

But, that’s not the best part. The cups each have numbers on the bottom… one, two, three… but if you fill up the one cup, and the two cup, and you pour both of them into the three cup, it’ll fill perfectly. It demonstrates visually that one plus two equals three. Imagine the possibilities. Fill up the one cup once… pour it into the two cup… Your child will easily see that the one cup filled up the two cup halfway, showing that one is half of two. It’s easy to see how you could work this into a great math lesson, whether you’re just informally chatting about measurements, or whether you’re a homeschooling parent like me and will be starting formal math lessons with your little one. This is a great tool designed to work with that.

Plum Organics Greek Yogurt Blends: Cherry, Sweet corn, and Greek Yogurt flavor, $1.49

We actually haven’t tried this yet, but I am so looking forward to Zach testing it out. I personally really like Greek Yogurt, and Zach is a fan of yogurt in general, so I’m sure it’s going to be a hit. Zach doesn’t eat many purees at the moment, unless they’re spread on something, but I think this will make a great tortilla roll-up spread, don’t you? And we really like Plum Organics products around here, particularly their super puffs! This Greek Yogurt blend contains no salt or added sweeteners, and it’s great because yogurt really boosts digestion health, which is a great way to keep kids healthy, and keep everything working the way it should. Plus, the pouch is resealable, so if you don’t eat it all at once, you can screw the lid back on and save it for later!

From www.plumorganics.com, $1.49

Kushies Beach Bag, $7.99

Try as I might, I could not find this product on the Kushies website, so I don’t have a picture to show you. My guess is that the bag was probably a Citrus Lane exclusive or a promotional piece because, unlike many other Kushies items, it features a Kushies logo right on the side of it. The bag is the perfect size for keeping a towel, Zach and I’s sunglasses, an extra swim diaper and regular diaper, and a small bottle of sunscreen. It’s not too big, but it’s not too small, either. It’s a great size for stashing some items, which will be perfect when our family makes our yearly trip to Alabama, because if Zach stays true to what I’ve been seeing, he’s going to be a total water baby. The bag is very breathable, and has little holes covering it, so if sand or water gets in it, I can give it a quick rinse and it’ll be good to go.

Episencial Sunny Sunscreen, Travel Size (2 of ‘em!), $9.00 (full size is $9, the travel sizes add up to a similar amount)

I am so glad that Episencial decided to make some travel sizes just for Citrus Lane! And I’m more excited that Citrus Lane decided to send TWO! That’s great because I can toss one in our diaper bag and leave one in the car, so we’re never without it. If you’re like me and have a habit of losing those things, having two is a great deal, because I always like to have a backup.

If you’ll remember, I’m a huge fan of Episencial. I love that they’re a green company and I can trust them to be safe for my son. When it comes to Sunscreen, I’m very choosy, and I follow the EWG Skin Deep Sunscreen Guide. It tells you the best and worst sunscreens… 0-2 means that a sunscreen is low-hazard, 3-6 means that it could have moderate hazard, and 7-10 means it’s a high-risk item. Episcencial scored a 2, which is awesome! It has good UVB protection, good UVA protection, and a very good balance between UVA and UVB protection. The excellent sunscreen stability made it a good choice for our family, and the fact that it has low health concerns is another great factor.

Available at www.episencial.com, $9.00

I totally trust Episencial, and I’m so happy it had a higher score on the Skin Deep guide! The sunscreen moisturizes because it has sesame, safflower, and avocado oils in it. Because the sunscreen also has beeswax and shea butter, it’s able to provide a natural water resistance, which will help keep it on longer, even in the water (but don’t forget to re-apply regularly!)

If you’re not familiar with Episencial, but want to try out the awesome products they have, they have an awesome sample offer on their website. The samples are free, but it’s a $2.99 shipping fee… for that price, you’ll get two of their best-selling samples, a mini soothing cream for tossing in your diaper bag, and a $5.00 coupon to use on your next purchase (to offset the shipping costs). You can order one of those sample sets here.

Joyus Gift Card, $15.00

This is a great gift for mom, but the only gift I was even slightly disappointed with in this box because, on my first glance at the Joyus site months before, I thought that there would be nothing under the $15.00 mark (and this month, there just wasn’t extra money in the budget to spend on something). I figured if I couldn’t find a way to use it, I could always pass it off to my mom and see if she wanted to order something. However, on second glance, I realized that there were many items that I could get for free with the gift card! I’m trying to decide between getting some Eyeko products (the eyeliner is $15, which would be free with the gift card, excluding any shipping charges, of course, or the mascara is only $19, and I can afford $4.00 right now), or some 100% Pure body cream. Though, my some of the Grilling gadgets currently on the site might make a great father’s day gift, and the health portion items may help me get that post-baby body into a better shape! I can’t decide!

What I love about Joyus is that I can watch a video demonstrating the product. If it’s apparel, sometimes it’ll give me a better idea of the fit, or show me new ways to wear the item. For jewelry, I can see the length of it a little better and figure out where it might fall on me. I love the way that the information is very visual, and I think that the gift card is great because I can pick my own treat this month!

Citrus Lane Box (free)

Well, okay, this isn’t really an item, but it has provided so much entertainment for Zach. We saved the empty Citrus Lane box. He’s been pushing it over to his play kitchen so he can sit on it while he plays. It has also become a workbench, and he kneels in front of it and hammers the box with his toy hammer for long stretches of time. He pushes the box around the room, he rolls it, he really, thoroughly enjoys it. Even though it’s not intended to be a special part of the box, he gets more enjoyment out of that than many of the other items (especially items like sunscreen, which are essential, but not necessarily as fun for him).

Overall, the box was great. Don’t forget that Citrus Lane is $25.00 each month, but you can subscribe to multiple months and get a discount. You can also save 10% off of your subscription by using the code SPRINGFUN. You can let Citrus Lane know that I referred you to them by clicking here: http://www.citruslane.com/invitedby/Jennifer.Schoenberger

Have you tried Citrus Lane yet? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the boxes, and where you heard about them!

Tags: baby wear, family health issues

Ch-Ch-Changes!

You may have noticed a few things changing around my blog and social media sites recently. As in, a lot of changes, a complete overhaul. I wanted to provide a little bit of explanation about why I made so many changes to the whole thing recently, and about how I’m hoping to better serve you, as readers. Here’s a little about what I’ve been working on behind the scenes, and why I’ve been working on it.

A cohesive new look

If you’ve checked out my pages before, you probably noticed that my facebook page had one banner set, my blog had another, and my Twitter account had another background entirely… none of it fit together, none of it looked alike, and there was no general theme or branding. Now, you will noticed that when you visit each of those, you’ll see the same colors, same idea, and same styles across each of them. You will see the yellow chevron background, the hints of blue and green, and the soft colors chosen for the entire thing. My new colors and chevron style also extends to my new business cards for my blog, and the same colors extend to my new about.me page. The about.me page is a landing page for my social media, and will be able to link you to my blog, my twitter account, and my facebook page, so you’ll know where to contact me on each website. I think now would be a great time to give a huge huge huge shout-out to Kristin Cronin-Barrow over at Sweet Shoppe Designs. She was gracious enough to let me use her designs from the kit Vitamin D on all of my re-branding… that pretty yellow chevron pattern you’re seeing everywhere (along with all of the other delicious prints and items?) yeah, she MADE those. Isn’t she the best? As soon as I purchased the kit, I was in love, and I knew it would fit my re-design perfectly.

New Business Cards

Why exactly does a blogger need business cards? Well, let me tell you. Suppose I am chatting with someone, whether they’re another blogger, or a representative for a brand. We hit it off, and I think that they could provide great input for my blog, whether it’s a certain blog partnership or guest blog trade off (I post on their blog as a guest, and they come and post on mine, so we both can share our expertise with each others’ readers, and everyone– the bloggers and readers from both blogs– wins), or a brand partnership so I can bring you great new information about brands (and in the future, hopefully some giveaways), or whatever else. Before, if I wanted to get in touch with them, I could hand them a generic business card made for my other business, or I could hand them a scrap of paper with my info on it, or something like that. Now, instead, I can hand them a business card that shows my blog off. Not only does it share that same cohesive look with my blog, but I added a QR code on it. Not familiar with a QR code? It’s a code that you can scan with your smartphone, and it will take you to a certain place on the web (you can also program QR codes to display text instead of a webpage, or to add yourself as a contact in someone’s phone, but for my purposes, it’s just to take them to a place on the web). Where will my QR code direct people? Straight to my about.me page, which gives them the opportunity to follow me on twitter, facebook, and my blog! See how that works out?

More opportunities to connect

This one is straightforward, since I’ve already mentioned it several times… now, it’s easier than ever to connect with me across all of my social media… You can click on my pretty little picture over there on the top right-hand corner of my blog to go to my about.me page and find my other accounts. Below that, I also have my twitter and facebook accounts in that same sidebar, so you can also follow them from right here on my blog. I love it when my blog readers tweet me or talk to me via facebook, so don’t hesitate to do both or either… you can give me ideas of posts you want to see in the future, ask me questions (both personal and blog-related), and just connect with me. That’s the best part of blogging is getting to connect with my readers!

Easier Sharing

Did I write something that is particularly inspiring to you? Do you want to share it on facebook, pin it, tweet it, email it to a friend, or print it? At the bottom of each post, you’ll now find buttons to make it easier than ever to tell others about what you read!

Streamlined Focus

I’ve now worked hard to streamline exactly what my blog is about, by coming up with this. I am blogging about being a digital-era mom and casual foodie. That means you’ll primarily see topics about parenting (especially in this day and age) and about food and recipes. However, you’ll also occasionally see posts about homeschooling, trips I go on, and more, especially if they fall into the categories of food and parenting.

Yellow? Blue?

So why did I choose these colors specifically? Well, I’m going to be honest, my favorite color in the world is purple… so why did I choose two different colors for my blog? Well, I decided on yellow and blue for several reasons. First, I think the combination of the two is just stellar… I’m addicted to purchasing items in this color scheme. They just compliment each other so perfectly, and I love how soft the colors feel together.

I also am a huge fan of color psychology. I love the way that colors can set a mood for what you’re talking about.

Growing up, my mother always used to call me her Sunshine. In fact, our song was “You Are My Sunshine,” which is why I loved the little quote from the song in Kristin’s kit, which I used above, on my header. Yellow is the color of sunshine. And, you know what? Yellow makes you happy. It’s joyful, it’s happy, it brings energy, and it’s often used to symbolize intellect. It’s warm. It helps stimulate mental activity. And, well, to put it bluntly, a lot of times, it’s associated with food. And honestly, I love to talk about and write about food. Yellow just feels fresh… a fresh start, a fresh look, a fresh page. Yellow seems to feel child-like, and well, with food and parenting being my primary topics around here, the fact that yellow can be representative of both definitely gets my attention. Plus, yellow is spontaneous. If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you’ll realize in many ways, that I am, too.

As yellow is the color of sunlight, blue is the color of the sky. The work together, while still contrasting against each other. Blue is very symbolic of trust, of wisdom, and of faith. All three of those things are very important to me. Many psychologists have found that blue is very beneficial to the mind and body. It’s calming. It’s tranquil (have you ever sat near the blue ocean? Yeah, it’s kind of like that). Blue is sincere. I’m sincere. See how that works? Blue is understanding… and it’s soft. The only downside to blue? It suppresses appetite, and as a food blog, well, I don’t want to do too much to suppress your appetites, because, well, that kind of kills me in the food category. That’s why I chose it as an accent color!

So, as you can see, I put a lot of thought into my colors, my color scheme, and the overall look. Plus, duh, I just really like the colors.

I really hope you guys like the re-design and the new look. If you’re an email subscriber and haven’t had the chance to stop by my twitter, facebook, blog, or about.me pages, I hope you’ll give it a quick look. I would love to know what you guys think of the new look, so definitely sound off in the comments below, or on my social media sites!

Tags: blogging, soft colors, technology

Summer Sippin’: Cherry Limeade Bars

You caught me. I’ve been working on a fun series for you guys featuring some delicious baked treats based on some of the best summer drinks I could find. And this, trust me, this recipe is a true winner.

I knew I wanted to make some sort of baked good recipe based off of one of my all-time favorite summer drinks, a Cherry Limeade. And there are so many recipe options, from cupcakes, to pies, and more. However, the second I saw the cherry limeade bar recipe from Brooke over at Cheeky Kitchen.

I made a few minor tweaks to her bar recipe, but overall, these bars are addicting. I’m not kidding, you really need to be warned if you try these out. They’ll fly out of the pan.

You’re going to want to start out by preheating your oven to 350. Grab a cup of flour, a half cup of butter, a quarter cup of powdered sugar, and a dash of salt. Make sure your butter is softened first. I also added a small spoonful of softened cream cheese to this step (I’d say around a teaspoon or so). Go ahead and press that into a greased 8×8 pan.

I won’t tell anyone if you decide to double the crust recipe, then eat half of it before it’s baked. The crust just has that… perfect flavor. It’s buttery, it’s rich, it’s lightly sweet. Mmmm.

Next, you’re going to take a 10 oz jar of maraschino cherries and put about half of them into a blender or food processor (don’t even think about draining them! You want some of that juice!). I used this super cute food processor I got from WalMart for only $2 in a black Friday sale! In addition to the cherries, add a splash of grenadine syrup if you have it on hand. It’s not necessary, but I loved the extra cherry boost it added. Also, you need to put in half a tablespoon of corn starch. Now, puree it until it’s mostly pureed, but still has some chunks… you’ll want some bits of cherry left in there!

Spread that on top of your unbaked crust.

Now, pop that puppy into the oven for 15 minutes. While it’s in the oven, you can start the top layer.

In a bowl, mix 3 eggs, 1 1/4 cups of sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour, and 1/4 cup of lime juice. Mix it up really well, so the sugar dissolves completely.

Now, if you want your bars to have that lime “look” to them, go ahead and whip out your food coloring. While gel will give you a more vibrant color, I didn’t have any green gel coloring on hand, so I worked with my liquid, and just put about 10-15 drops of green and 3 or 4 drops of yellow. (The yellow was unnecessary. I just thought it added a prettier tint to it).

Check out that pretty green tint! Now that your lime layer actually looks like a lime and tastes like a lime, you can pour it on your first two layers (at least, once your timer beeps, anyway). Once you’ve poured that on your first layer, put it BACK in the oven for another 30 minutes (check on it… Brooke at Cheeky Kitchen recommended 20-25, but it took my oven almost a full 35 to get the bars to set). They’re done once they’re totally set and not wiggly in the middle.

Now here’s the hardest part. Let those cool completely. I know, I know. I snuck my first piece while it was still warm. And my second. My third piece was almost cool, though.

And that’s the beautiful finished product.

 

Trust me, these bars are one of the easiest things I’ve baked in a long time. You’re going to want to make these again and again. They’re that yummy. If you try these bars, I would love to see a photo or some comments on what you thought!