http://www.theposhevent.etsy.com
Friday, November 13, 2009
I need help coming up with a cute name for these clips...Get a free clip if I use your name!
These are some of my new favorite hair clips. I think that I am going thru a creative dryspell. I have the clips designed but I can't figure out what to name them. Apple of my eye just doesn't seem to cut it. So I am asking for help. I would love to sell a bunch of these on Etsy and need a catchy cute name to help me. I will send you your own custom made apple clip if I chose your name! Thank you so much for your help in advance! Get your friends and family to help! Big Hugs to all!
http://www.theposhevent.etsy.com
http://www.theposhevent.etsy.com
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Designing Eco Friendly Baby Accesories: Making Gifts on a budget
Since becoming a stay at home mom and having out income cut in half we have had to become very creative with our budget. 
I have a daughter who was born with a full head of hair. I of course am one of those ridiculous mothers that couldn't wait to dress her up in all sorts of cute outfits and do her hair. I already envisioned all of the oohs and ahhs she would get when we would go out. I couldn't wait to go shopping for her. What I didn't expect was how expensive it would be to get the looks liked. I didn't understand how a shirt 1/4th the size of mine could cost just as much if not more than a shirt for me. I am lucky however. My mother went crazy with buying her outfits. She just couldn't stop herself and a lot of our family and friends also sent us quite a bit of supplies to last us the first year. Something I was missing though were hair accessories. Granted, I could, and did, buy the 6 pack of hair bows from places like Wal-Mart for $3.00 but they just didn't seem very special. Plus they usually came in pretty standard colors that wouldn't match most of her things and would easily fall out. As I do for most things, I told myself, "hey! I can make it myself!" I was off to the craft store. There, I found an amazing material called EcoFi Felt. EcoFi Felt is made from post consumer plastic bottles in a full range of colors. This was great to me since I have been working with felt (mostly wool) since I was a child and the green lifestyle has been ingrained in me all of my life. This was perfect the potential of this material seemed endless. My daughter had this cute dress with watermelons on it so I made a watermelon hair clip for her. 
People went nuts over it wondering if the clip came with the dress. I then decided to play around with other shapes and fruits, even veggies! The more she wore them out and about the more compliments I would get. This of course lit a light bulb in my head. Being part of such a large family and having so many events it is inevitable that we need gifts from time to time. Especially now with so many of our friends and family having children we wanted to come up with something that still made everyone say "AWW" but without having to forgo buying milk for the week! I started handing them out to family members and friends as gifts for each event. People started to ask if they could purchase more and now here I am starting a little store. I am so pleased. Who knew that a hobby that I enjoy to relax would help me accessorize my daughter, be great gifts for friends and family, and help contribute to the bills! I have been getting new ideas for new designs which has been so much fun to figure out and put together. If you have any ideas I would love to hear it. I want to have a store opening on Etsy in the next week or so. So any ideas would be great! http://www.ThePoshEvent.Etsy.com
I have a daughter who was born with a full head of hair. I of course am one of those ridiculous mothers that couldn't wait to dress her up in all sorts of cute outfits and do her hair. I already envisioned all of the oohs and ahhs she would get when we would go out. I couldn't wait to go shopping for her. What I didn't expect was how expensive it would be to get the looks liked. I didn't understand how a shirt 1/4th the size of mine could cost just as much if not more than a shirt for me. I am lucky however. My mother went crazy with buying her outfits. She just couldn't stop herself and a lot of our family and friends also sent us quite a bit of supplies to last us the first year. Something I was missing though were hair accessories. Granted, I could, and did, buy the 6 pack of hair bows from places like Wal-Mart for $3.00 but they just didn't seem very special. Plus they usually came in pretty standard colors that wouldn't match most of her things and would easily fall out. As I do for most things, I told myself, "hey! I can make it myself!" I was off to the craft store. There, I found an amazing material called EcoFi Felt. EcoFi Felt is made from post consumer plastic bottles in a full range of colors. This was great to me since I have been working with felt (mostly wool) since I was a child and the green lifestyle has been ingrained in me all of my life. This was perfect the potential of this material seemed endless. My daughter had this cute dress with watermelons on it so I made a watermelon hair clip for her. 
People went nuts over it wondering if the clip came with the dress. I then decided to play around with other shapes and fruits, even veggies! The more she wore them out and about the more compliments I would get. This of course lit a light bulb in my head. Being part of such a large family and having so many events it is inevitable that we need gifts from time to time. Especially now with so many of our friends and family having children we wanted to come up with something that still made everyone say "AWW" but without having to forgo buying milk for the week! I started handing them out to family members and friends as gifts for each event. People started to ask if they could purchase more and now here I am starting a little store. I am so pleased. Who knew that a hobby that I enjoy to relax would help me accessorize my daughter, be great gifts for friends and family, and help contribute to the bills! I have been getting new ideas for new designs which has been so much fun to figure out and put together. If you have any ideas I would love to hear it. I want to have a store opening on Etsy in the next week or so. So any ideas would be great! http://www.ThePoshEvent.Etsy.com
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Ticked off Toddlers, Brisket, and a Pig Bite...
Ohio is absolutely beautiful in the fall. The bright fall colors painting the hillsides with quaint farms scattered in-between. There are a lot of places that cater to families like ours during this time. New road side farmer markets pop up, hay rides, pumpkin picking, the whole nine yards. We decided to aim east of us where the land starts getting very hilly. We ended up in Holmes county http://www.visitamishcountry.com/ since our dear daughter wasn't going to be her charming self much longer if we didn't stop for a break. Any time I am in this area I immediately think about the cheese, particularly Guggisberg cheese. Go to any store offering this cheese and they charge at least $10 a pound. This isn't something that fits into our budget, when you go directly to Guggisberg cheese chalet and factory you can get it for 2.99 a pound! Plus, they have an excellent selection of other wonderful cheeses for similar prices. In the past 5 years since I knew of it's existence it has really become popular. Maybe too popular. We never used to have to fight to get parking or cram ourselves into the store and fight off people to pick up a chunk of cheese. They even gave my daughter a cardboard cheese hat! This was quite hilarious since she was more interested to see this hat on us that keeping it on herself. So, here I am fighting to get cheese, with a cardboard cheese on my head, while making sure I keep my daughter clear of the dozen sniffles and sneezes I heard surrounding us. Not quite the quaint experience I was after, but I still got my cheese! I can't help to think when I see places like this start printing logo hats, have fancy bags, and now a full website http://www.guggisberg.com/, that I am paying for it somewhere. So the magic gets lost for me. But, I would still tell everyone to check it out, at least for getting some cheese samples! After this, about 5 mins down the road towards 39 we stopped at Hershberger farms. They have a petting zoo, wagon rides, pony rides, farmers market, and a bakery. I go here each year to pick up a huge thing of Ohio grown Candy Onions. Seriously some of the best onions ever! This year was extra special since our daughter actually noticed the animals and was so happy to see them. We took her around to look at the baby goats, cows, birds of all kinds, and baby pigs. Oh, the pigs were so cute! 
Our daughter couldn't get enough of them. Neither could I. I just had to pet one. They kept running away from people but for some reason a number of them came up to me and let me pet them. I felt like I was an animal whisperer or something. Next thing I know the pudgy one bit me! Granted they had signs all over warning that something like this could happen, but really? Me, I get bitten by a pig. My husband was heartbroken over it...if heartbroken means that he laughed his head off. Due to this my daughter started laughing as well. She started saying "Ow!" and then laugh "Ow" and then laugh. She was so proud of herself. Despite the pig bite, we had a great time. For dinner we drove to 39 and CR201 Berlin Hickory Smokehouse. We each got the brisket platter which was AMAZING! This place recently opened after Troyers Amish Restaurant went out of business. The serving I had could have easily fed a family of 4 on it's own. The meat was perfectly prepared. Most of the food is supposedly from around Amish country. We were very satisfied especially since we spent $25.oo for the three of us. The children's menu left more to be desired and really didn't taste very good when we had it. We should have just had her eat off of our plates instead. Plus the service was pretty terrible. This is a new place, so I can let that slip for that reason and the fact that the food was so good. This place was so good that I decided that when my father came out to drag him and my sister over there (an hour drive from where we live) to have the brisket. So, unfortunately this time around the only consistent experience was the terrible service. There were half the amount of people there than the last time we were there the day before. The brisket was horribly dried out and with about a quarter of the portion we had the day before. My father got a combination plate for 17.oo of ham and brisket, the plate came out with even less than the rest of us. The ham was dried out, it was pathetic looking. One would swear that we were in a different restaurant! I asked the server about it telling her that I had brought my father and sister here boasting about how great the place is and what a great value for the price. Her explanation was that on busy days they don't tend to measure portions so you may get larger portions and less cooked food than the days they are less busy. What?! I asked, that was the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I was so dissapointed and felt horrible for dragging my family out there. http://theberlinhickorysmokehouse.com/index.html You can check this place out. I can't guarentee if this place will be the best or the worst place ever. I still don't know. I have not been back since.
Our daughter couldn't get enough of them. Neither could I. I just had to pet one. They kept running away from people but for some reason a number of them came up to me and let me pet them. I felt like I was an animal whisperer or something. Next thing I know the pudgy one bit me! Granted they had signs all over warning that something like this could happen, but really? Me, I get bitten by a pig. My husband was heartbroken over it...if heartbroken means that he laughed his head off. Due to this my daughter started laughing as well. She started saying "Ow!" and then laugh "Ow" and then laugh. She was so proud of herself. Despite the pig bite, we had a great time. For dinner we drove to 39 and CR201 Berlin Hickory Smokehouse. We each got the brisket platter which was AMAZING! This place recently opened after Troyers Amish Restaurant went out of business. The serving I had could have easily fed a family of 4 on it's own. The meat was perfectly prepared. Most of the food is supposedly from around Amish country. We were very satisfied especially since we spent $25.oo for the three of us. The children's menu left more to be desired and really didn't taste very good when we had it. We should have just had her eat off of our plates instead. Plus the service was pretty terrible. This is a new place, so I can let that slip for that reason and the fact that the food was so good. This place was so good that I decided that when my father came out to drag him and my sister over there (an hour drive from where we live) to have the brisket. So, unfortunately this time around the only consistent experience was the terrible service. There were half the amount of people there than the last time we were there the day before. The brisket was horribly dried out and with about a quarter of the portion we had the day before. My father got a combination plate for 17.oo of ham and brisket, the plate came out with even less than the rest of us. The ham was dried out, it was pathetic looking. One would swear that we were in a different restaurant! I asked the server about it telling her that I had brought my father and sister here boasting about how great the place is and what a great value for the price. Her explanation was that on busy days they don't tend to measure portions so you may get larger portions and less cooked food than the days they are less busy. What?! I asked, that was the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I was so dissapointed and felt horrible for dragging my family out there. http://theberlinhickorysmokehouse.com/index.html You can check this place out. I can't guarentee if this place will be the best or the worst place ever. I still don't know. I have not been back since.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
19 Children nearly 90 Quilts over 90 years One amazing woman!
As I have mentioned, I have married into quite the large family. My husband's mother is one of 19 and his father is one of 6. You can just imagine how many cousins he has!
Margaret Langenkamp had 19 children in about 16 years. Her first set of twins and her first born daughter died when they were young. So she would tell you only that she has 16 children since people used to look at her like she was crazy for having so many children. She is an avid quilter who had made a quilt for every child of hers, for each grandchild, and each great grandchild. This past October Grandma Langenkamp turned 90 years old and we had a huge event in her honor. Everyone brought their quilts to the event to put out for display and it was enough to bring tears to everyone walking into that room. The hours of work that was represented there and all of the love she poured into each quilt was amazing! Every one of her children along with their families were there. (Minus my brother-in-law and sister-in-law who are in Vanuatu in the Peace Corp). One of our Aunts put together a book with her daughter on all sorts of stories about Grandma Langenkamp. We all had an opportunity to submit writings for the book. Some are funny, some are sad, some inspire, and some just have you wondering why. The book turned out great. It has been recently submitted into a competition on Blurb.com http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/913645 Please check it out and if you can vote for it. In the meantime when you enlarge the book to look thru it, it is big enough to read. So please feel free to read it and spread the word about it!
Margaret Langenkamp had 19 children in about 16 years. Her first set of twins and her first born daughter died when they were young. So she would tell you only that she has 16 children since people used to look at her like she was crazy for having so many children. She is an avid quilter who had made a quilt for every child of hers, for each grandchild, and each great grandchild. This past October Grandma Langenkamp turned 90 years old and we had a huge event in her honor. Everyone brought their quilts to the event to put out for display and it was enough to bring tears to everyone walking into that room. The hours of work that was represented there and all of the love she poured into each quilt was amazing! Every one of her children along with their families were there. (Minus my brother-in-law and sister-in-law who are in Vanuatu in the Peace Corp). One of our Aunts put together a book with her daughter on all sorts of stories about Grandma Langenkamp. We all had an opportunity to submit writings for the book. Some are funny, some are sad, some inspire, and some just have you wondering why. The book turned out great. It has been recently submitted into a competition on Blurb.com http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/913645 Please check it out and if you can vote for it. In the meantime when you enlarge the book to look thru it, it is big enough to read. So please feel free to read it and spread the word about it!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A Good Dose of B-12 and Crashing Hard Drives
The past few weeks have been something else! We have been traveling up to Michigan to my parent's place in order to help fix up the house. It has been amazing finding a number of childhood trinkets and tons of pictures from the past 60 years! Seeing my father in lederhosen as a boy and blue polyester hounds tooth pants when he came over here in 66, my mother in some of the most amazing and stunning fashions, my sister and I doing all sorts of crazy poses for the camera. I had to take a double look at some of my baby and toddler pictures thinking that it was my daughter. We had such a wonderful hardworking time.
The Posh Event is starting to take off again with more business which is a blessing although also quite hard to keep up with. My daughter has been quite demanding lately and school keeps adding more assignments. Figuring out an officiant workflow has been quite challenging. So, my mother being the guru of vitamins told me that I must take B-12 to help with energy and stress. I could write a blog on just the different vitamins and supplements my mother has found and used over the past few decades. She is like the father in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with Windex. Anything goes wrong in your life, there is a vitamin for that, anything goes right in your life, it was due to a vitamin...ok, maybe not that dramatic, but you get the point. My mother was prepared and had these B-12 drops that you put under your tongue and hold there for 30 seconds. I am sorry, but those drops looked just like that horrible medicine we were forced to take back in the day that would leave that bitter taste in your mouth for as long as your ailment. I very nicely declined. She then went on to show how it wasn't bad by giving it to my sister. My sister of course had to look like someone just poisoned her. So, once again, I said ever so nicely...
no way! My mother decided that she was going to show me how she takes it just fine. She put it under her tongue and had to keep it there for 30 seconds. My sister did the count down...1...2...3...I had to add my own spin on the count down by throwing other numbers and saying holding up a bag of my Dad's ever so precious walnuts..."would you like some of papa's nuts mom??" "They may be a little salty"..."oops, I just drop papa's nuts, they may be cracked now" by time 30 seconds came around mom was just about gagging on the drops and I was getting ready to run. So at that point, all niceties went out of the door and my mother and sister were just going to hold me down to give me the drops. I learned a few things from my daughter. Stand tall, face the ceiling, shut your mouth and duck and weave! That worked great especially since I am taller than both of them. I escaped with not having to take it, but the bottles did go home with me still.
Tuesday I returned home with a few hundred emails waiting for me and a bunch of work on my desk. My husband who was just offered a promotion at work had a meeting with his boss to discuss the offer. Poor Dave was really stressed about that and I was stressed about it for him. Our daughter's schedule was way off so I was desperately trying to get her to take her nap and to eat for the day. But she just wanted to hang out on my lap and play on the computer with me. By time Wednesday came I decided to break down and take the B-12. Amazingly, it didn't taste as bad as I thought. I figured that it couldn't hurt. After taking the vitamin and doing breakfast with my daughter I sat at my desk to start on work. The computer had just finished an HP update and needed to restart. Only that, it didn't start back up. I tried a few more times, I then ran a diagnostics test on the system rather annoyed. This computer is under a year old and has had more problems on this one system than I have had on my 10 past systems of other brands over the past 15 years! I started to think about a number of things I didn't have backed up as yet and really started to panic. As the test ran I figured as long as the hard drive was ok, then I would be fine. The test started to work on the hard drive...10%...30%...60%...80%....FAIL! WHAT!? I mean, this thing didn't just fail, it FAILED with a giant red X and the word in capital letters below. It was as if the computer was going to blow up. I started to hyperventilate! I put my daughter in her playpen with my water bottle and a few toys as I went to sit down to try to calm down. I called my husband, as he answered I couldn't even talk, the situation really sunk in. All I could do on the phone was "Gasp...Gasp...Gasp!" Dave told me he would be here in 20 mins. I was able to calm down who knows, maybe the B-12 actually helped! So, I sit her patiently with my laptop waiting to hear the fate of my hard drive and the information on it. Wish me Luck!
The Posh Event is starting to take off again with more business which is a blessing although also quite hard to keep up with. My daughter has been quite demanding lately and school keeps adding more assignments. Figuring out an officiant workflow has been quite challenging. So, my mother being the guru of vitamins told me that I must take B-12 to help with energy and stress. I could write a blog on just the different vitamins and supplements my mother has found and used over the past few decades. She is like the father in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with Windex. Anything goes wrong in your life, there is a vitamin for that, anything goes right in your life, it was due to a vitamin...ok, maybe not that dramatic, but you get the point. My mother was prepared and had these B-12 drops that you put under your tongue and hold there for 30 seconds. I am sorry, but those drops looked just like that horrible medicine we were forced to take back in the day that would leave that bitter taste in your mouth for as long as your ailment. I very nicely declined. She then went on to show how it wasn't bad by giving it to my sister. My sister of course had to look like someone just poisoned her. So, once again, I said ever so nicely...
no way! My mother decided that she was going to show me how she takes it just fine. She put it under her tongue and had to keep it there for 30 seconds. My sister did the count down...1...2...3...I had to add my own spin on the count down by throwing other numbers and saying holding up a bag of my Dad's ever so precious walnuts..."would you like some of papa's nuts mom??" "They may be a little salty"..."oops, I just drop papa's nuts, they may be cracked now" by time 30 seconds came around mom was just about gagging on the drops and I was getting ready to run. So at that point, all niceties went out of the door and my mother and sister were just going to hold me down to give me the drops. I learned a few things from my daughter. Stand tall, face the ceiling, shut your mouth and duck and weave! That worked great especially since I am taller than both of them. I escaped with not having to take it, but the bottles did go home with me still.
Tuesday I returned home with a few hundred emails waiting for me and a bunch of work on my desk. My husband who was just offered a promotion at work had a meeting with his boss to discuss the offer. Poor Dave was really stressed about that and I was stressed about it for him. Our daughter's schedule was way off so I was desperately trying to get her to take her nap and to eat for the day. But she just wanted to hang out on my lap and play on the computer with me. By time Wednesday came I decided to break down and take the B-12. Amazingly, it didn't taste as bad as I thought. I figured that it couldn't hurt. After taking the vitamin and doing breakfast with my daughter I sat at my desk to start on work. The computer had just finished an HP update and needed to restart. Only that, it didn't start back up. I tried a few more times, I then ran a diagnostics test on the system rather annoyed. This computer is under a year old and has had more problems on this one system than I have had on my 10 past systems of other brands over the past 15 years! I started to think about a number of things I didn't have backed up as yet and really started to panic. As the test ran I figured as long as the hard drive was ok, then I would be fine. The test started to work on the hard drive...10%...30%...60%...80%....FAIL! WHAT!? I mean, this thing didn't just fail, it FAILED with a giant red X and the word in capital letters below. It was as if the computer was going to blow up. I started to hyperventilate! I put my daughter in her playpen with my water bottle and a few toys as I went to sit down to try to calm down. I called my husband, as he answered I couldn't even talk, the situation really sunk in. All I could do on the phone was "Gasp...Gasp...Gasp!" Dave told me he would be here in 20 mins. I was able to calm down who knows, maybe the B-12 actually helped! So, I sit her patiently with my laptop waiting to hear the fate of my hard drive and the information on it. Wish me Luck!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I don't know what I made for dinner, but it was darn good!!
Tonight I made dinner with no plan in mind. I have a ton of vegetables from the garden and farmers market, so I decided to just "go with the wind" on this one. This is what I did...
1 med candy onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
3 small zucchini chopped
2 small finger eggplant chopped
2 med carrots sliced
1 green chili pepper minced
1 large garlic clove minced
4 roma tomatos diced
1/2 cup corn fresh off the cob
1 lb chicken kind of chopped up
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tbs ground ginger (freshly grated I think would be better)
1/4 cup garlic sesame sauce
3 tbs soy sauce
1/4 cup splenda/sugar (either or)
I put all of the veggies in a large pan with the olive oil and sauteed until onions were glossy. I then added the chicken with ground ginger. After the chicken was cooked I added the sauce and soy sauce. Then I added the splenda.
I made a side of white rice since I was out of brown rice.
It was really delicious! Sweet and Spicy. I have no idea what to call it, but it was great!
Feel free to leave a comment and name it or if it sounds like something that is already out there I would love to know!
1 med candy onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
3 small zucchini chopped
2 small finger eggplant chopped
2 med carrots sliced
1 green chili pepper minced
1 large garlic clove minced
4 roma tomatos diced
1/2 cup corn fresh off the cob
1 lb chicken kind of chopped up
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tbs ground ginger (freshly grated I think would be better)
1/4 cup garlic sesame sauce
3 tbs soy sauce
1/4 cup splenda/sugar (either or)
I put all of the veggies in a large pan with the olive oil and sauteed until onions were glossy. I then added the chicken with ground ginger. After the chicken was cooked I added the sauce and soy sauce. Then I added the splenda.
I made a side of white rice since I was out of brown rice.
It was really delicious! Sweet and Spicy. I have no idea what to call it, but it was great!
Feel free to leave a comment and name it or if it sounds like something that is already out there I would love to know!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Beautiful Beaches, Sites, and a Baby in Ohio...
Our trip to Marblehead was amazing despite some crazy weather. In the morning I had a photoshoot of an amazing couple Eric and Sami. We met at Bay Point Yacht Club where they keep two boats and stay there a few days a week during the summer.
They knew that I was going to make this a mini vacation with my family so they had a three day guest pass for the club and beach for us as well as some toys ready for my daughter to pay on the beach with. My daughter was more than thrilled. The Beach at Bay Point Yacht Club was beautiful and clean. My daughter had a wonderful time playing with the sand and jumping in the water with her daddy. You could even see Cedar Point from the waterbreak. In the picture to the right if you enlarge it you can see some of the rides at Cedar Point in the background. I can only imagine the view on a clear day. The photoshoot took place on the beach, water break, and then down to the Marblehead lighthouse. And with a little luck the weather held up.The last time Dave and I have been to the Marblehead Lighthouse was during one of our whim explorations when we thought that we found this little hidden treasure since no one was there. This time there were practically tour busses and company picnics going on at the location. Who would had guessed for a Thursday! It made the photoshoot a little more difficult, but I guess it's nothing that a little photoshop work can't fix. But it is quite the site to see all the same.
Plus you can't argue since it's free to the public. My daughter looked to have a good time running around. Although this place gives you direct access to the water where there are just rocks and rather large waves. Not a place to let a little one run wild.We wrapped up the photoshoot and decided to drive along the lake shore to find lunch. The town of Marblehead is really cute. Everyone raves about the little icecream shop out there. Plus there are a ton of art galleries. The area is a pretty popular vacation area where people (especially from Ohio) have small cabins up there that they go to during the weekends. There are a bunch of bed and breakfast places as well as ads all over for "Fishing Cabins"? I am not sure why they do not just say cabins, it makes me almost feel as if those places are not as nice and that they are just trying to set up some expectation management. Who knows. Maybe one day I will look into that since they also seem quite a bit cheaper, and hey, I love fishing!
We kept driving a long the shore up towards the Putt n Bay ferry on Catawba Island (even though on the map it looks more like a penninsula). We contemplated going to Putt n Bay, but with the weather looming the way it was we figured that we would stay on the mainland. We found a place to eat called Rudders Deli and Cafe. It was really cute although the more we were there the more we realized that it must cater to the tourist going up to Put N Bay. They have a gift shop, a market place, as well as a bakery and deli. They do not have a website though and when I looked it up on Yahoo Local, it considers it in Port Clinton. Rudders Gift Shop and Market Yahoo Local .
David had the roast beef and I had the ham with spicy mustard. They also had a children's meal with a hotdog (mind you, the hot dog they advertised as "The best hot dog in Chicago!" good to know when you are in OHIO). The food was decent. All three meals with drinks came up to around 16.00. We ended up going back for a dessert each since they also advertised homemade baked goods. I had the brownie and my husband had the apple bar. The brownie was mediocre at best, but that apple bar was delicious! I wanted to steal it from my husband! My daughter could care less about the hotdog but found the giant cookie in the bag and tried to run off with it! It was a nice visit.
We continued along the Lake Erie lakefront. We kept running into whitout rain so we would slow down or stop for a while. We stopped at Lakeview Metro Park in Lorain for a while. Unfortunately the beach was closed. So we just made it a diaper change pit stop and kept moving. We caught up with the rain again and decided to start heading back the way we came. We didn't realize that there was also a storm coming up behind us. The wind blew feircely and we were in whiteout rain again. The thunder and lightening were intense. I thought for sure that our daughter was going to be scared, but there she was clapping her hands and laughing pointing around. We slowed the car down since we couldn't see what was going on and as fast as it came it went away. As we could see again we started to drive back down the road we came from we were shocked. Trees were down, cars under trees, debris everywhere, powerlines down. The emergency crews flying down the roads and people all over the place surveying the damage. We needed to make another pit stop so we waited to get back to the Metro Park. Trees were down there as well and all of the lifeguard stands were blown over. It was crazy to see all of this!
Following the wind with a baby
Admittedly, it has become significantly more difficult to travel on a whim with a baby. For our first year most of our trips were to go see family members. It involved me being a crazy mother packing 4 bags, a stroller and a pack-n-play...just for my daughter. Dave became a pack mule having to lug all of these things to the car and try to figure out how to fit everything. It would take me another two hours to get out of the house and then we would stop about two times along the way. Don't even have me start on how I would get car sick just because I would keep looking back into the mirror to make sure our daughter was alright. Mind you, she would usually sleep throughout the entire trip. By time we would get to our destination I would be exhausted.
Yesterday my daughter turned 18 months and things have gotten better. We are down to two bags, and closer to an hour late. I figure that at this rate in another 6 months we should be down to one bag... and about on time??
Now that my daughter is a toddler I focus more on clothing since she seems to be able to find a way to get messy in no time. So one bag is devoted to that and the other is supplied with food, drinks, diapers, wipes, and other supplies. So far so good. The only problem now is the fact that she doesn't want to sleep on the trip anymore, she wants to see what is going on and gets restless after a while in the car. So we need to stop a little more often. But, this has become a blessing in disguise! We get to follow the wind in a whole new way. Instead of just stopping anywhere we look for something different. If it is time to eat then we look for a cute little place to eat at. If we just need to get out and walk a little we look for parks or little attractions. We have now been able to see even more this way!
So granted even though it takes us a little more motivation and time to get out of the house, once we are out we are getting to see things on a whim in a whole new way! This was the case with our Marblehead trip last week. Actually, thanks to her, we missed being in a huge storm! That will be explained more in the next posting.
Yesterday my daughter turned 18 months and things have gotten better. We are down to two bags, and closer to an hour late. I figure that at this rate in another 6 months we should be down to one bag... and about on time??
Now that my daughter is a toddler I focus more on clothing since she seems to be able to find a way to get messy in no time. So one bag is devoted to that and the other is supplied with food, drinks, diapers, wipes, and other supplies. So far so good. The only problem now is the fact that she doesn't want to sleep on the trip anymore, she wants to see what is going on and gets restless after a while in the car. So we need to stop a little more often. But, this has become a blessing in disguise! We get to follow the wind in a whole new way. Instead of just stopping anywhere we look for something different. If it is time to eat then we look for a cute little place to eat at. If we just need to get out and walk a little we look for parks or little attractions. We have now been able to see even more this way!
So granted even though it takes us a little more motivation and time to get out of the house, once we are out we are getting to see things on a whim in a whole new way! This was the case with our Marblehead trip last week. Actually, thanks to her, we missed being in a huge storm! That will be explained more in the next posting.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Summer Heat and Way Too much Zucchini!
It is rather hot in the house today. The air conditioner doesn't seem to be cutting it. Due to my office being finally set up in the house, I have started getting my things together and finally getting some organization in place. One of the things I have been wanting to do especially with trying to earn my Domestic Goddess title is to plan out dinners a week in advance. I tried to take this to the next level with also trying to look up recipes to use up our garden crops. There must be a lot of people out there trying to get rid of their zucchini, because there are sooooo many "creative" zucchini recipes out there. From appetizers to desserts! This week we tried two new recipes Corn & Avocado salsa with beef wheat tacos, and Black Bean Chili with Fried Polenta squares. Wow, these were some great dishes and have been great leftovers as well. I added sliced zucchini to each of these dishes which worked out well too. I will put some links to these recipes below.
Today I dreaded cooking dinner. I wanted to stick to my schedule (at least for one week!) but I was so tempted to pick up the phone and just order out to avoid making the house hotter than it already is. On today's menu we have Ginger Garlic Chicken with eggplant, bell pepper and (you guessed it) zucchini! Half way thru cooking I decided that I wanted to add another starch (great idea when you are trying to stay cool right? cough) And started boiling a pot of Asian noodles. I came up with this idea for a dinner so I just kept throwing things in. The vegatables in the dish wasn't cooking quick enough for me, I was just dying in the kitchen of heat. So I added a cup of water to see if that would cook them down quicker. This just added a huge haze in the kitchen and made me even more miserable to be in the middle of. The noodles were done, rinsed and drained so I decided to throw them into the pot with the veggies and chicken. The dish ended up looking more like a soup than anything else. I took a spoonful and it was quite tasty. I called my husband to dinner, he took one look at it and said "Wow, that dish looks like it's a few key ingredients short of being able to go out for Halloween." I asked him to explain himself and he responded with "I'm just saying that it looks scary." ... ... ... ... ...
Soooooo, here I sit still fuming. Mind you, this is the man that said that he was going to make chili with garbonzo beans, refried beans, baked beans, grilln' beans, and tomato basil soup!
Since this incident this evening, he has told me how good this dish is and what a great cook I am...yep
We had a great few days. We went to the Ashland Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. I just love going there. It says that it starts at 9am, but if you are not there by 8am you are missing out! Talking about a competitive market! Saturday night two of my best friends from high school came to visit. Christina had her daughter a month before I had mine. This was the first time the girls were able to get together and play. She is so cute! Poor Christina, this was the first time she had traveled this much with her daughter (who also started to get a cold) and she was about to loose it! We had to assure her that it is completely acceptable when traveling like that to be 2 hours late and to pack up an entire car for a two day stay. My parents live 3 hours away north and my husband's parents live 3 hours west. So we travel quite a bit at least in those directions. We are starting to get packing with a baby down to a science. I guess its all about practice and experience. Isn't her daughter adorable!?
Tomorrow the wind will bring us to Marblehead, Ohio. I have a photoshoot up there and figured to make it a family trip. Dave has the next two days off and we plan on camping and finding places around there. I will be taking pictures as we go and post our mini adventures when I get back!
Black Bean Chili
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Bean-Chili/Detail.aspx
-
Avocado and Corn Salsa
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Corn-and-Avocado-Salsa/Detail.aspx
Today I dreaded cooking dinner. I wanted to stick to my schedule (at least for one week!) but I was so tempted to pick up the phone and just order out to avoid making the house hotter than it already is. On today's menu we have Ginger Garlic Chicken with eggplant, bell pepper and (you guessed it) zucchini! Half way thru cooking I decided that I wanted to add another starch (great idea when you are trying to stay cool right? cough) And started boiling a pot of Asian noodles. I came up with this idea for a dinner so I just kept throwing things in. The vegatables in the dish wasn't cooking quick enough for me, I was just dying in the kitchen of heat. So I added a cup of water to see if that would cook them down quicker. This just added a huge haze in the kitchen and made me even more miserable to be in the middle of. The noodles were done, rinsed and drained so I decided to throw them into the pot with the veggies and chicken. The dish ended up looking more like a soup than anything else. I took a spoonful and it was quite tasty. I called my husband to dinner, he took one look at it and said "Wow, that dish looks like it's a few key ingredients short of being able to go out for Halloween." I asked him to explain himself and he responded with "I'm just saying that it looks scary." ... ... ... ... ...
Soooooo, here I sit still fuming. Mind you, this is the man that said that he was going to make chili with garbonzo beans, refried beans, baked beans, grilln' beans, and tomato basil soup!
Since this incident this evening, he has told me how good this dish is and what a great cook I am...yep
We had a great few days. We went to the Ashland Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. I just love going there. It says that it starts at 9am, but if you are not there by 8am you are missing out! Talking about a competitive market! Saturday night two of my best friends from high school came to visit. Christina had her daughter a month before I had mine. This was the first time the girls were able to get together and play. She is so cute! Poor Christina, this was the first time she had traveled this much with her daughter (who also started to get a cold) and she was about to loose it! We had to assure her that it is completely acceptable when traveling like that to be 2 hours late and to pack up an entire car for a two day stay. My parents live 3 hours away north and my husband's parents live 3 hours west. So we travel quite a bit at least in those directions. We are starting to get packing with a baby down to a science. I guess its all about practice and experience. Isn't her daughter adorable!?
Tomorrow the wind will bring us to Marblehead, Ohio. I have a photoshoot up there and figured to make it a family trip. Dave has the next two days off and we plan on camping and finding places around there. I will be taking pictures as we go and post our mini adventures when I get back!
Black Bean Chili
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Bean-Chili/Detail.aspx
-
Avocado and Corn Salsa
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Corn-and-Avocado-Salsa/Detail.aspx
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Making a Baby Too Cute Tutu!
I was playing around with some tulle I had laying around the house and decided to make a tutu for my daughter a while ago, I figured that all I had to do was take tulle and sew it to the elastic. I found out that when you do that, it stretches out the elastic and made the tutu way too big for her. So I put it away. The past few days we have been working on the house and arranged my office so that I can look after my daughter while getting work done. My dear daughter (DD) found the tutu out of all of the confusion and put it on. She is almost 17 months, but I found this genius! She looked sooo cute! I couldn't help but bring her outside to take some pictures.
I have learned how to make tutus since this trial. There are all different ways. But the easiest I found was taking 3" wide by double whatever length you want the tutu to be. Get a nice thick ribbon, cut it by making sure you have enough to go around your child and tie into a bow. Take the tulle strips by the middle and tie them to the ribbon. Keep tying the tulle strips to the ribbon until your desired fullness. You can mix and match tulle colors to get some great effects! Tulle is so cheap as well so this is a fun and inexpensive project for you and your little ones!
Papermart has some great deals on tulle and all sorts of packaging products!
http://www.papermart.com/Product%20Pages/Product.aspx?GroupID=10850&SubGroupID=10851&ParentGroupID=19005#10851
I have learned how to make tutus since this trial. There are all different ways. But the easiest I found was taking 3" wide by double whatever length you want the tutu to be. Get a nice thick ribbon, cut it by making sure you have enough to go around your child and tie into a bow. Take the tulle strips by the middle and tie them to the ribbon. Keep tying the tulle strips to the ribbon until your desired fullness. You can mix and match tulle colors to get some great effects! Tulle is so cheap as well so this is a fun and inexpensive project for you and your little ones!
Papermart has some great deals on tulle and all sorts of packaging products!
http://www.papermart.com/Product%20Pages/Product.aspx?GroupID=10850&SubGroupID=10851&ParentGroupID=19005#10851
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
What to do with your in season Zucchini and Corn!
This was a serious recipe! I was going to cream the corn I had left over from the farmers market this weekend. But who knew, there is cream in creamed corn...yeah. I just thought that was a term for blending the corn into a cream. Hey, I said I was a Domestic Goddess IN TRAINING didn't I? So I was on AllRecipes.com and found a section devoted to corn since it's in season. I found this awesome recipe. Warning: This recipe is not for the faint of heart...no really, I mean it, you cook in bacon fat. Someone could have a heart attack on this dish! They would have a smile on their face while having it, but hey...you have been warned.
I took this recipe and also added some of the bell peppers that I have been stock piling, about one cup. I then served it with a side of brown rice. Everyone loved it!
Here is the recipe: Corn and Zucchini Medley
Here is the article on corn recipes: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Corn-in-the-USA/Detail.aspx
Don't have any of these seasonal goodies? Support your local farmers market. So much fresher and usually so much cheaper than the grocery.
I took this recipe and also added some of the bell peppers that I have been stock piling, about one cup. I then served it with a side of brown rice. Everyone loved it!
Here is the recipe: Corn and Zucchini Medley
Here is the article on corn recipes: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Corn-in-the-USA/Detail.aspx
Don't have any of these seasonal goodies? Support your local farmers market. So much fresher and usually so much cheaper than the grocery.
Adventure runs in our blood
We had the privilage to visit with Dave's brother Lucas and sister-in-law Alex. They are back in The States for a little bit to say hi and bye to everyone as they get ready to leave for two years with the Peace Corps in Vanuatu. This past year they were in Antarctica at McMurdo Station, then they honeymooned in New Zealand and Australia for a few months. What can I say, everyone on both sides of this family are travelers! You can check out their blog at http://ourantarctica.blogspot.com . We had a great visit. They got to play with their neice, we took them to a picnic in Amish Country, went blueberry picking in Lexington, Ohio, we lived off of our garden coming up with all sorts of recipes like fried zucchini patties and kale pesto. And of course, living in Ashland, Ohio it was only proper to take them to Brookside Park and the Merry-Go-Round to get a huge serving of ice cream. The only place to be on a Sunday Evening! We also had an opportunity to take a picture of them with the quilt Grandma made for him.
Aunte Connie is writing a book about her life and all of the quilts she has made for each of her 19 children, 35 grandchildren, and lets not even get started on great grandchildren. She has won tons of awards for her quilts, they are amazing! This picture of the two of them really shows the quilt along with Alex and Lucas wonderfully. We also have a picture of Dave's quilt. Both of the quilts have eagles on them since both Lucas and Dave are Eagle Scouts.
All in all it was great to take them around Ashland, not have to spend much at all, and have a really wonderful visit!
If you are in Ashland, Ohio, it is a must that you stop by The Merry-Go-Round. It is down by brookside park. There are a bunch of baseball diamonds, a golf course, mini golf, a pool, tennis courts, and more. There is also the bandshell where during the summer we have performances on Thursdays and Sundays. So this ice cream place is in the right location. They are so inexpensive for what you get. Even the baby cone looked like what you would get as a regular cone at other place. They have a list of flavors on an ice cream sign that is at least seven feet tall. And the ice cream is delicious!! Usually Dave and I only spend about 5.00 for the two of us. This time around for 4 adults and one baby we spent 9.00. How can you beat that. Unfortunately they are only open during the summer between Memorial Day and Labor day. So it is quite the big deal when they open! They do not have a website but you can get more information here. http://www.yelp.com/biz/merry-go-round-ashland
Aunte Connie is writing a book about her life and all of the quilts she has made for each of her 19 children, 35 grandchildren, and lets not even get started on great grandchildren. She has won tons of awards for her quilts, they are amazing! This picture of the two of them really shows the quilt along with Alex and Lucas wonderfully. We also have a picture of Dave's quilt. Both of the quilts have eagles on them since both Lucas and Dave are Eagle Scouts.
All in all it was great to take them around Ashland, not have to spend much at all, and have a really wonderful visit!If you are in Ashland, Ohio, it is a must that you stop by The Merry-Go-Round. It is down by brookside park. There are a bunch of baseball diamonds, a golf course, mini golf, a pool, tennis courts, and more. There is also the bandshell where during the summer we have performances on Thursdays and Sundays. So this ice cream place is in the right location. They are so inexpensive for what you get. Even the baby cone looked like what you would get as a regular cone at other place. They have a list of flavors on an ice cream sign that is at least seven feet tall. And the ice cream is delicious!! Usually Dave and I only spend about 5.00 for the two of us. This time around for 4 adults and one baby we spent 9.00. How can you beat that. Unfortunately they are only open during the summer between Memorial Day and Labor day. So it is quite the big deal when they open! They do not have a website but you can get more information here. http://www.yelp.com/biz/merry-go-round-ashland
Monday, August 10, 2009
Kingwood Center
Kingwood Center and Gardens in Mansfield, Ohio is a beautiful place we like to visit about 3 times a year to see the different landscapes and get some great pictures. They aslo have sweet greenhouse. This year it was particularly fun. Our daughter is now walking pretty well on her own and its great to see her explore new things. The excitement that she shows in her face just warms you up inside. So much so, we even paid the twenty-five cents to get a little handful of food for her to feed the ducks and fish. She had a great time. We were terrified a few times that she may pick one of their plants, but she actually helped them out by picking the weeds. She needs to do that in my garden!
Here are some of our pictures from that trip. If you are in the area you really need to visit Kingwood. It is free to the public and is close to a number of nice little places to eat at if you wanted to make it more of an outing. http://www.kingwoodcenter.org/
Here are some of our pictures from that trip. If you are in the area you really need to visit Kingwood. It is free to the public and is close to a number of nice little places to eat at if you wanted to make it more of an outing. http://www.kingwoodcenter.org/
Oh baby it's Hot outside!
Today has been a rather lazy day. Probably because it is so hot outside right now. I decided to start a blog about how my family and I take these small and inexpensive trips around Ohio that have given us such joy.
Growing up my father traveled a lot with his business. We were lucky to have such an involved father who wanted to be with us as much as he could. He never missed a game, a play, or any other event in our lives. So when he had to go and we could either get out of school or were on vacation or had the weekend free, it wasn't uncommon for him to come home from work and tell us to pack we were going to head out that same night! My mother was an expert packer. Having two daughters and a cockapoo to figure out what we needed for x number of days, it was amazing how we would be able to get everything together and head out the door with little confusion. Every time was exciting. We did have certain demands of our father though, we always wanted to stay at a Holiday Inn "Holidome" where they would have a pool, games, and other activities to do there at the hotel while we would wait for our Dad as he did is business. These trips took us all over the country and even different countries. On the way to and from our destination was the true spirit of travel. We would stop and quaint places to eat, and see random billboards about attractions coming up. Some were awesome and became favorites, while others we still can laugh at to this day (a petting zoo with over 1000 animals...turned out to be 995 deer and 5 baby osteraches). We would stop at little historical sites and small festivals all over. It was thanks to my parents I got this type of travel bug.
When I left for college it was a whole new world for me. I grew up in Michigan and then attended Ohio State. I had traveled to Columbus before and all over Ohio so I wasn't ready for such a culture shock. But I got a great job at the Schottenstien Center/Value City Arena on campus and made some awesome friends. It was here where I met Dave. We became fast and furious friends and worked together quite often. I thought that it was hilarious that he was going into Animal Science specializing in Poultry and Natural Resources. And his hobbies included showing chickens at competitions! But I also found out what an adventurous spirit he has and knew that we would have a great time together. He didn't know what was good to see or do in Columbus even though he had been attending OSU for two years longer than me. So I challenged him to explore with me. Horribly early one Saturday where a campus of over fifty thousand people looks like a ghost town, he picked me up to go explore. I had about ten dollars on me and he had about the same. He asked me where we were going and I asked him "which way is the wind blowing?". He laughed thinking that I was joking until I openned the window to find out. "Really?" he asked, "Really." I responded and we took off. We came home with money in our pockets, bellies full, and a whole day of fun. We felt like we had a whole vacation. We have been traveling like this ever since. Granted, over the past 10 years we have made some modifications with getting a dog, getting married, buying a house, getting a second dog, and having a baby....but the concept has still been the same. We are still learning how to travel like this with our daughter.
Growing up my father traveled a lot with his business. We were lucky to have such an involved father who wanted to be with us as much as he could. He never missed a game, a play, or any other event in our lives. So when he had to go and we could either get out of school or were on vacation or had the weekend free, it wasn't uncommon for him to come home from work and tell us to pack we were going to head out that same night! My mother was an expert packer. Having two daughters and a cockapoo to figure out what we needed for x number of days, it was amazing how we would be able to get everything together and head out the door with little confusion. Every time was exciting. We did have certain demands of our father though, we always wanted to stay at a Holiday Inn "Holidome" where they would have a pool, games, and other activities to do there at the hotel while we would wait for our Dad as he did is business. These trips took us all over the country and even different countries. On the way to and from our destination was the true spirit of travel. We would stop and quaint places to eat, and see random billboards about attractions coming up. Some were awesome and became favorites, while others we still can laugh at to this day (a petting zoo with over 1000 animals...turned out to be 995 deer and 5 baby osteraches). We would stop at little historical sites and small festivals all over. It was thanks to my parents I got this type of travel bug.
When I left for college it was a whole new world for me. I grew up in Michigan and then attended Ohio State. I had traveled to Columbus before and all over Ohio so I wasn't ready for such a culture shock. But I got a great job at the Schottenstien Center/Value City Arena on campus and made some awesome friends. It was here where I met Dave. We became fast and furious friends and worked together quite often. I thought that it was hilarious that he was going into Animal Science specializing in Poultry and Natural Resources. And his hobbies included showing chickens at competitions! But I also found out what an adventurous spirit he has and knew that we would have a great time together. He didn't know what was good to see or do in Columbus even though he had been attending OSU for two years longer than me. So I challenged him to explore with me. Horribly early one Saturday where a campus of over fifty thousand people looks like a ghost town, he picked me up to go explore. I had about ten dollars on me and he had about the same. He asked me where we were going and I asked him "which way is the wind blowing?". He laughed thinking that I was joking until I openned the window to find out. "Really?" he asked, "Really." I responded and we took off. We came home with money in our pockets, bellies full, and a whole day of fun. We felt like we had a whole vacation. We have been traveling like this ever since. Granted, over the past 10 years we have made some modifications with getting a dog, getting married, buying a house, getting a second dog, and having a baby....but the concept has still been the same. We are still learning how to travel like this with our daughter.
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