Monday, April 15, 2019

Spring Favorites



It's finally spring! We had a long, hard winter and I was more than ready to welcome rain instead of snow, 50 degrees instead of 20, and playing in the muddy backyard instead of the daycare room. This week, as I sat on my deck watching the kids play tag, I started thinking about all my favorite things.  Then I realized just how long it's been since I've done a 'my favorite things' type post. A year! A full year! [read last year's here]

Wow!

Looking back on it, it seems my favorite things haven't completely changed year to year (hello, we literally had quinoa and black beans last night and tonight I ordered pad thai from Ubereats. I mean, wowza!), but there's a few things I haven't been able to live without these last few weeks. So, without further ado:


1.) Fun tip about me: I still like to write using a good ole paper and pen when I write professionally. I've been going through a lot of both in the last week. My husband requested I stop using "clicky pens" because I have a tendency to click the pens obsessively when I'm thinking or trying to concentrate. Apparently I've been doing a lot of writing and thinking because he kindly bought me a package of my favorite pens to use instead.

2.) These National Park CamelBak water bottles are perfect for our family. Max and I both have Yellowstone water bottles and we have a Voyageurs National Park bottle that makes its rounds between family members. We carry reusable water bottles wherever we go, but I love the themed water bottles for our vacations (which typically include at least one visit to a National Park).

3.) Obviously, since we spent time in NOLA that makes us beignet experts (not at all). We picked up box mixes to bring home. They didn't turn out pretty, but they tasted pretty darn great. We used our box immediately, as well as our K-Cups with chicory. Luckily, you can buy both the mix and the coffee on Amazon (also as Target, World Market, and other places).

4.) After breaking both our vacuum and Shop Vac with daycare's indoor pumpkin patch (fyi hay and carpet don't got well together), Hubs treated me to a new vacuum. I wasn't sure about a bagless vacuum because the ones we've had in the past broke immediately from the intense use. So far, I'm pleased with how our bagless Shark is holding up and picking up. We'll see how it does in the fall again with hay, but it's been great for our needs (and daycare's).

5.) I happened to grab one of these head wraps from the check out at Old Navy a few months ago. My daycare families can attest that I wear it pretty much every day.

6.) Floof. Get it. Kids love it, it smells like marshmallows, and it cleans up relatively easily. It won't ruin carpet or flooring or clothes but does leave a film of goo on the table top that takes a few cleanings to get off.

7.) Obviously, like every human being in America, we have Neflix, Hulu, and Prime. We also added CBS All Access (we finally decided to continue watching NCIS after season 11). I'm happy we added it because we have even more choices and easy access to anything we'd want to watch. I'm also happy because we can have all of these for less than what we'd pay with cable. So worth it.

8.) I wore these shoes all around NOLA in February, walked 6+ miles in downtown Chicago for St. Patty's Day, and logged a lot more miles on walks around the neighborhood. These shoes are wonderful! My feet never hurt from wearing them, even after a 16 hour day, and they've held up great considering how used they've been within the last couple of months.

9.) I'm in love with Old Navy jeggings. Not only are they comfortable (a big thing for me since I'm constantly bending, walking, and moving around in general), they take wear and tear well too.

10.) I tried them out Rent The Runway for the Des Moines Children's Museum's Giggle Gala in February. I already have dresses picked out for several events over the next few months. They made everything painless and the process was fool proof. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I didn't waste money on a one time wear.

11.) I'm a sucker for the oldies. Lately, I've put Amazon Music's 60's station on in the daycare room during the days and I've noticed the kids singing and dancing along with it too.

12.) I'm a coffee and tea drinker, so my teeth are stained. I began using this teeth whitening gel a few days ago and noticed my teeth lightning up quickly.

13.) It's impossible for me not to love the Des Moines Children's Museum since I sit on the Board of Directors, so it's near and dear to my heart. I'm incredibly excited for all of the new adventures we're having, but it's also taught me a lot about our local community. I have never felt such support and love from total strangers. Their kindness and helpfulness makes me love our city so much and I can't wait to grow the Museum with them.

14.)  I made things easier on myself by setting up a Venmo account. Getting paid has never been easier and it's freed up some time by avoiding trips to the bank for deposits.