April 22nd, 2013
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| Strawberry Feels Forever |
Lush has been around since 1995 and has only been in the United States since 1996. I remember seeing Lush stores but I never bought anything because the smell of the soaps and products were so over-powering. This only happened to be an issue because I had a lot of allergies to certain scents. Fast forward to 2013.
My neighbor and I are shopping at the King of Prussia mall before I had baby #2 and she took me into the Lush store. I tried one of their body butters and I simply had to continue trying other products while I was in the store. My neighbor treated me to a bath scrub bar and I bought and eyeliner and lip gloss.
Lush creates and believes in 100% against animal testing so 100% are vegetarian and 83% are vegan. 60% percent are preservative-free and 38% are packaging-free. They use only products from fresh organic fruits and vegetables, the finest essentials oils and safe synthetics.
I am personally VERY sensitive to lots of make-up and beauty products so I was very interested in seeing how this product line would be.
The make-up comes in 0.2 ounce glass container and is packaged very nicely with tags describing each color. I love the fact that all colors are labeled with a wonderful adjective which could describe how the buyer purchases, based on their mood or how they want to be perceived.
Take the lip make-up in Passionate and Decisive, it was not my husband’s favorite but it made me feel great. I felt what the colors described and they were exciting!
While I was in Houston in March, I purchased a Body Bar with a sweet strawberry scent and I asked to sample another lip color. I LOVE the fact that you can ask to take home samples before purchasing because after I ‘ve been wearing this specific color, in Perspective, I cannot wait to buy the bottle.My husband even mentioned how he liked the color! Score!
What else was not popular around this house? Well, the folks at Lush sent me this lip gloss that reminded my husband of children’s Tylenol. I placed it on my lips thinking it smelled nice and delicious, but I came to kiss my husband and he was not thrilled. Whoops! Looks like I will be using this to kiss my kiddos. LOL
Therapy Massage Bars
Lush’s massage bars, body butters and shower scrubs are AMAZING!!! They were lifesavers to a certain extent when I was pregnant. The last couple of weeks of my pregnancy were pretty awful. I was itching intensely when I found out I had cholestasis. I was scratching constantly and I was using the shower scrub bars to ease the scratching and to soothe the dry skin and I was using the massage bars to keep the skin moisturized.
While they did not alleviate the itching 100%, the bars helps and it made me smell nice. They are great for travel too!
This might not be the best lip job but as I continue trying to apply my lip color on better, I will continue to enjoy Lush cosmetics for a long time. I cannot wait to try other colors because I am adventurous.
The last product I will tell you about is this toner water I use in the morning. After I wash my face, I spray this on and let it dry and then I put on my morning cream. I do not feel that my skin is oily and it keeps it healthy looking.
Want to try some Lush Products?
Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post but was sent products to test and review for free of charge.
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April 16th, 2013
I finally have a recipe for you all! This after all a food blog and all I have done is review products. Kind of boring, eh? Well, hopefully not!
I love shopping at our local produce store called Produce Junction because they have such great fruit and veggies. Granted it is not organic or through a CSA (which I hope to do soon) but it is great for the meantime for this veggie- and fruit-loving family.
A member of our family does not really care for squash but I simply could not help but buy these Mexican squash called Calabacita squash. I think that my husband just challenges me to make recipe that he will like. I of course want our children to love ALL veggies.
Does anyone not cook a certain veggie because some member of your family dislikes it with a passion? I take breaks but I do not eliminate it from our daily menu. Peas are the only DESPISED veggie in our home. LOL
As I get used to being home with my little babies I am getting used to thinking about simple meals I could prepare. I am not one to solely rely on a crock pot even though I know it will be a lifesaver some days.
I looked in my pantry and realized I had 2 more bottles of this fantastic local marinara made by Rose Romano’s. I knew immediately what I was making: stuffed squash. Yum!
This was my first time making it and it took 30 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to bake. It was fast and it was all prepared while I was wearing the baby in my Ergo baby carrier. It was awesomse!
I used a paring knife to remove the center of each squash then I rubbed the squash halves with kosher salt, pepper and olive oil. I placed all of them in a 9×13 pan where I had poured both bottles of marinara.
If you are looking for a gluten-free and low-carb meal this is it. I only had 6 squash but this recipe would work with 8 small squash and feed 4 people.
Was my husband convinced with this meal to love squash? Not really but he was a trooper and said it was tasty but not his favorite. Oh well. I loved it especially with a side of French bread to dip in the marinara.
If you do not buy this sauce you can use 32 ounces of your favorite marinara. For carb lovers, you can add some spaghetti to this dish.
What is you least favorite veggie?
Stuffed Calabacita Squash with Red Pepper Marinara
by Noelle Kelly
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients (3 servings)
- 6 Calabacita squash, halved and centers removed
- olive oil
- kosher salt
Filling
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1 cup button mushrooms, chopped
- 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bottles of Rose Romano’s Marinara Sauce
Topping
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Start with cutting the ends of the squash. These run small so do not cut too much. Cut each squash lengthwise and carefully remove the seeds with a paring knife making a squash boat. place the squash halves in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle kosher salt and black pepper.
In a 9×13 glass dish, pour the two jars of Rose Romano’s sauce. Place the squash halves in the dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil, and place the onions, mushrooms and ground beef and brown for 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic, seasonings and brown rice and continue cooking for 5 more minutes.
Remove baked squash from oven and fill each squash boat with 1-2 Tbsp of meat. Sprinkle the whole dish with Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Bake for another 15-20 minutes. Serve with French bread.
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April 15th, 2013
A few months ago I became involved with one2one Network and was sent a copy of Dr. Harvey Karp’s new book, The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep: Simple Solutions For Kids From Birth to Five Years.
Dr. Karp is well known for The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block. I was excited to review this book since I had to read The Happiest Baby on the Block for my first baby. I was having problems getting her to rest and sleep and then I realized she had lots of colic. I did not know how to calm her despite those symptoms. The techniques and suggestions written by this nationally celebrated pediatrician worked most of the time so I was happy to read this new book to see how I could help my toddler sleep better and to get more information in case I started having more sleep issues with my second baby.
Right off the bat I learned a lot with The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep. It gave me greater insight on the typical sleep cycles that babies and toddlers go through as well as the different stages of sleep that babies go through. We have all heard about REM, but have you ever heard of NREM? NREM is the most restful sleep where the eyelids are still whereas REM deals with lighter sleep and the eyelids flutter and move.
Light sleep and deep sleep happens all through the night with an infant. It was fascinating getting all the inside information on my little one. I have loved focusing on her eyelids as she drifts off. I even get a small smile and have even gotten some laughter!
There is another chapter in this book where Dr. Karp focuses on the 5 S’s: Five Ways to Turn on the Calming Reflex. These are the five steps that he talked about in the first book I read. It focused on swaddling, placing baby on the side, shushing, swinging and sucking.
I love swaddling because I had always read, even in this book, that there is a fourth trimester. The baby needs to feel safe, secure and snuggled. Their reflexes are not controlled. I LOVE seeing my newborn flail her arms when something alarms her. It was also written that a baby feels like they are falling when they flail their arms out that way. My newborn has started crying several times after something or someone startled her. Swaddling is therefore encouraged even until 6 months. He also focuses on a section when to wean an infant from swaddling.
Another chapter talks about the dangers of co-sleeping and bed-sharing. While I agreed on the dangers, I knew how hard I had it with my first baby. When I had my mother-in-law stay with us for a month, I happened to mention to her that I felt a lot more rested with this baby than with the first. We then realized that it was because I was bed-sharing. The baby would sleep with both of us in bed and whenever she woke up I would feed her and she would fall back asleep. Granted my sleep was not quite as deep because I was aware of her presence. We had our first baby in a bassinet in our room when she was first born. I felt so exhausted because I was getting up every time, and very often, when she cried or need to be fed, despite being swaddled.
We have only co-shared the first 6 weeks and now we are implementing Dr. Karp’s points for great sleep. Another beautiful and helpful tip were all the charts he included in a lot of chapters showing the sleep cycle of a typical newborn and toddler. They are pretty much on target.
Kathleen, our second born child, falls asleep for the night at 9:30pm. Even though, I should wake her up around 11pm or 12am for a last feed for the night, according the Dr. Karp’s pointers, she really does not wake up for me so I let her sleep until she wakes up for her “dream feed” at around 2am or 3am. She then sleeps until 6 or 7 am. I feel like I have a great sleeper! Before I put her to bed, I make sure she is awake so she can lull herself to sleep. So far she has been doing really well.
How has this new book helped me to understand my toddler’s sleep schedule? Julianne is 17 months old and I have found that every day is a new day when it comes to naps. Some days she will have 2 naps or 1 nap, but then some days she will boycott both. I figure some of that has to do with her teething and sometimes it has to do with being a spirited and passionate toddler. She takes after me. I love the fact that Dr. Karp describes different types of personalities that toddlers have. I might has one spirited child and a quiet spirited baby. We’ll see.
I might be in denial, but Dr. Karp has charts showing when most toddlers go from 2 to 1 to 0 naps. He even states how every day might be different which is what I think we go through in our household. Julianne is such a high energy toddler that if she had it her way, she would never sleep. She does not want to miss any events or activities around her. I have tried a technique that the Dr. talks about which is to go outdoors before the first nap. Our family likes the outdoors which is not a problem. Julianne goes to the front door often and exclaims “OUT!” Sometimes it helps her take her first nap and other times it continues to give her energy until after lunch.
The best thing I took from the book is Chapter 10 where Dr. Karp talks about “Six Fun Steps to Boost Patience and Cooperation”. Whew, this is much needed in our home now. Even though I have the sweetest toddler, patience is lacking. I know it comes with age but some days it is hard having her just WAIT. Mornings are usually the most trying cause she wakes up so hungry. EAT! She has lots of words and EAT is the most important to her throughout the day. She gets impatient waiting for her fruit and cereal. Even though the cereal is prepared in advance I am just not quick enough for her. Ha!
The six steps that the Dr. talks about has help me better communicate with Julianne. Even though she is still young it is AMAZING how much she understands but it all depends how I communicate with her. Shorter phrases with simple words will help her understand and it has. I try to understand the feelings. There are other steps that will continue to help as Julianne get older.
Thanks to Dr. Karp because I will continue to use this book to help with any future issues. Want to check out more about what others are saying about this book? Check out this link for some media options.
Disclosure: I am participating in a book review campaign with One2One Network. I received this book from Harper Collins for the purposes of reviewing it. I have not received compensation. My participation in the campaign enters me into a drawing for a gift card. All opinions stated are my own.
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April 12th, 2013
Photos in Spanish is spelled Fotos so I decided that I would use it to have a cute title. Does it work? I am not big on using Spanglish anywhere in my world but I thought for this occasion it suited the day. Right?
The girls and I have been having lots of fun around the house. It has been a challenge giving enough attention to my toddler having a newborn but every day is a new day with new challenges and I embrace them.
The great thing about my Julianne is that she loves having fun and being silly. She is learning to entertain herself a lot more but I also try to keep her thought process going by asking her questions, having he repeat words back to me and more.
She is starting to talk a lot more and she is also screaming a lot too. I was talking to some moms at a park. One had an 18-month old and another a 16-month old and they were both saying how all of a sudden their toddlers were screaming either expressing frustrating, happiness, or just because.
How crazy is it that these kids and my Julianne have this in common because it comes with age? Well we are trying to help her not do it as often because she is scaring me and the baby.
Julianne loves playing with her sister but I have to be watch her because she loves feeding her fun snacks like raisins or bunny crackers. Whoops! Kathleen loves smiling at her sister and she has told me she cannot wait to play with her little sister. 🙂
Kathleen is a dream. God has blessed my with a quiet spirited baby for now. She laughs, smiles, and is a great sleeper and eater. This gives me a break with my very spirited and passionate toddler. Whew!
I mentioned on my Facebook that I can no longer leave anything on edges of tables or counters cause Julianne is grabbing them and consuming them. You’d think I was not feeding this child but she is constantly saying “eat, eat.”
On this occasion, Julianne grabbed a bowl of spiced butternut squash she had not wanted to eat for breakfast. I was distracted and feeding the baby and next thing I see is Julianne eating her puree in the middle of the living room. Sigh…not too much of a mess but still. She keeps me on my toes.
She loves pictures if you had not noticed. Here she is showing off her necklaces. Mardi Gras anyone?
Here is Julianne being silly looking likes she has some teeth missing after eating a bowl of blackberries.
What are some challenges you have with your kiddos and how do you deal with them?
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April 11th, 2013
I have not done a restaurant review in a while so I decided I should get back to them seeing that I am not able to make as many dinners. My planning has to get better now that there are two little ones on board.
Ryan and I had been talking about how we had not been able to find a local restaurant that was a nice pub and that had nice outdoor seating.
We had Dusty’s Tap Room and The Peanut Barrel in East Lansing, MI which were both GREAT for outdoor seating in the summer. Well, now that Pennsylvania has jumped from winter to summer, we have been craving for some outdoor dining. I remembered going by Appetites on Main in Exton where I noticed some great outdoor seating. I promptly looked online and noticed that they said that it was kid-friendly and great for dogs too!
We met after work and realized we had to wait for the outside seating. Well we could do it since it was a great evening!. We ordered the Buffalo Chicken Dip with pita, chips, and celery. It was spiced as mild and was very delicious. Julianne asked for some “BRED please.”
We make sure we bring prepared meals for her since she tends to get antsy now that she gets hungry. She keeps saying “EET, EET!” Once our food comes out we tend to share with little bits.Is this photo not the cutest?? She is growing up!
Our baby Kathleen was getting hot in her carrier so I took her out but then I realized she wanted to be fed. Well, at least I got some appetizer so I decided to feed her before our main meals came out. It did not work out as planned. She was getting too hot from under my cover. I had to calm her while I fed her so then Ryan ended up eating first.
He chose the Bacon Philly Cheese Steak with Shoestring fries, which looked just like regular fries. They were delicious and seasoned perfectly. I chose the Reuben sandwich as my splurge with their house chips. I had to wait to eat my food so I snacked on chips as I fed the baby and then ate the sandwich while Ryan held her.
The chips were delicious and perfectly crunchy and hardly oily at all. The Reuben was delicious but messy. I wished I had ordered it as a wrap.
Julianne is enjoying some pita and celery with my homemade butternut and yellow squash puree. YUM!
Look at this little one. She looks like she is in pain but seriously we ALL enjoyed our time sitting on their large and spacious patio. There was music playing in the background and there were lots of families and friends with their dogs.
We will definitely be back. It took use 15 minutes to decide what we wanted to eat because the restaurant has such an extensive list. Ryan definitely said he thought we found our pub. Good thing because it is in our area and it is a quick drive.
If you are in town for a visit it is worth a try!
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