Our family loves visiting the Impression 5 Science Center in downtown Lansing. We’ve enjoyed a membership and two summers’ worth of summer camps for Stella over the years, and it continues to be a favorite place to spend time exploring and learning. It feels like we discover something new each time we visit, especially as the girls are getting older.
I was very excited to be invited by Kate Snyder of Piper & Gold to visit Impression 5 this month and learn more about its newest exhibit, SMASH: A Nuclear Adventure. This interactive exhibit is located on the second level, next to the Spectrum room, and allows visitors to experience the wonder of nuclear science.
The exhibit helps illustrate the research happening right down the street at Michigan State University at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and in the years to come at MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). At SMASH, visitors can smash atoms, create rare isotopes, and observe cosmic rays.
While I missed the media preview earlier this month due to our trip, I was graciously given the chance to visit Impression 5 with the girls when we were back home. With Stella having the day off for Labor Day weekend, it seemed like a great chance to check out the new exhibit (and of course visit old favorites) soon after its grand opening.
I feel like I’ve been seriously slacking with my blog posts the last few weeks. I can only attribute it to a busy summer month of enjoying time at home with the girls, as well as working on my freelance writing assignments whenever nap time comes around.
We’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time at my family’s lake home this summer, but the thing about Michigan is that there are so many gems around the state to experience.
This past week, I enjoyed a wonderful 48 hours up north at Lake Arrowhead with my in-laws. My husband’s mom and stepdad rented a home on Lake Arrowhead for the week with his aunt Julie and uncle Randy, and the girls and I were invited to spend a few weekdays with them.
Lake Arrowhead is a community of subdivisions that surround Buhl Lake in Gaylord, Michigan. From the Lansing area, the car ride is about three hours. While I was a little intimidated about driving such a long distance on my own with both girls, I was also excited about the potential for exploring different parts of the state on the way up and way back home.
Here’s a recap of our wonderful 48-hour trip around our home state.
This past weekend, our family did something that we haven’t done since Margot was about two weeks old: we had professional photos taken of the four of us. While the girls have had photos taken each year as they’ve grown, there’s something really special about having photos of us all together. To be honest, I don’t know why we waited so long!
Photo by Rachelle Welling
I have known Rachelle Welling dating back to my time at FOX 47, when she was the producer for Michigan’s Big Show. We’ve stayed in touch via social media, and I’ve enjoyed seeing her adventures in travel, marriage, and motherhood over the years. Rachelle is a beautiful photographer, and recently launched her photography business. It’s something she is clearly passionate about, and she has her own distinct style.
When she posted on Instagram last month that she had some June weekend dates open for photo sessions, I reached out to see if we could schedule a morning to have photos taken of our family. Her rate was very reasonable for the services she provides, and she was willing to drive to meet us. As we contemplated locations, I realized she didn’t live too far from my family’s cottage in Ortonville. We decided to have Rachelle meet us at the cottage for part of the session, and then we would head to adorable downtown Clarkston to capture photos in a different setting. Being able to take photos in an area personal to us as a family made it even more special.
We had our photo session this past Saturday. Despite some iffy weather predictions, it ended up being a sunny and warm morning. Rachelle came to the lake at 9:00 a.m. and took photos in several spots around the exterior of the house. Considering the girls’ attention spans were limited, Rachelle was so engaging with them and captured so many wonderful candid and posed moments in a short amount of time. She had ideas for poses, but also let us try anything we were hoping to capture.
From there, we drove the 10 minutes to downtown Clarkston and took more photos together in different spots around town. With it being an early Saturday morning, it wasn’t too busy. Some of my favorite photos from the session were taken in the alleyway behind The Fed. All in all, the session lasted a little over an hour. After Rachelle left, we ended up having a late second breakfast at The Fed to cap off a fun morning.
Later that day, Rachelle sent a few sneak peek photos. From this little taste, I couldn’t wait to see the rest of them! And last night, Rachelle sent us the completed photo gallery. I love how well she captured our family, especially how silly our girls are. Rachelle’s photography style is reminiscent of old Life magazines to me, with this warm and vintage quality to them. I can’t wait to have several of the photos printed for frames and on canvases for the house.
This past Saturday, we celebrated my cousin Erin’s baby shower. She and her husband will be welcoming their sweet baby daughter later this summer. They live in California, so it was such a treat to spend time together as a family and celebrate her over the weekend.
Erin is one of the biggest Dave Matthews Band fans I know. She was an early member of the Warehouse, has seen him dozens upon dozens of times live, and can even be seen in a photo with Boyd on the back cover of a DMB book (I’m pretty sure it’s Fan.Fare).
I had already ordered the diaper pail from her registry (girls are sugar and spice and everything nice but they also poop all of the time) and had it sent directly to her, but I wanted to have a little gift for her to open at the shower too. On Memorial Day, the lightbulb in my head went off and I thought, “hey, I bet there are DMB onesies out in the world.” I went on Etsy, and sure enough found an array of choices.
In addition to onesies with the fire dancer logo, there were such adorable ones with DMB lyrics, from songs like “So Much to Say” and “Everyday.”
Because I was working with a short timeframe, I purposely picked one that the seller said would be available to ship in time for the shower. When I didn’t receive any shipment updates, I contacted the seller on Thursday and found out there would be a delay. The seller was nice enough to offer to send the gift directly to my cousin or refund it all together.
I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get to see her open this gift in person at the party. That’s when I decided that I could probably make a DMB onesie on my own. In fact, why not try to make a few?
People say that fashions always come back around, and that is absolutely true. Look at any women’s clothing department lately, and it’s like a Delia’s catalog exploded onto the shelves. If you didn’t already know by the series reboots and reunion concert tours, the 90s are back, babe.
Recently, I’ve been wearing my vintage, acid-washed cropped Levis jacket to barre class and getting a lot of compliments. I still remember the day I bought it at one of my favorite vintage stores, Lost and Found Vintage in Royal Oak. It was about eight or nine years ago, and I was shopping with my husband and cousin when I spotted it and fell in love.
Zack likes to joke whenever I wear it that he told me I should buy it, when in reality both he and my cousin were iffy on the purchase. I called it my Kelly Kapowski jean jacket. And this past weekend, I saw brand new Levi’s jean jackets in a variety of light washes at Nordstrom. Everything comes back around.
Pregnant Kelly Kapowski vibes
Meeting Colin Hay
I’ve been a vintage clothing fan for the last decade or so, and have amassed a small collection of vintage dresses over the years. I love the thrill of finding a treasure of a dress buried in a clothing rack, waiting for a new lease on life. I am also especially excited when I find things that fit well. There’s something very special about wearing an outfit that can’t be found just anywhere.
I have a few go-tos when it comes to finding vintage treasures, so I wanted to highlight some of my favorite vintage shops.
Our family just returned from a quick trip to Florida, and it was the first time we had the chance to try out something new with our packing: packing cubes.
I’ve seen a lot of people talking about using packing cubes on social media, so when my husband brought up that he was looking at them on Amazon, I showed him a brand that was highly recommended by several moms in a mommy Facebook group.
The Shacke Pak packing cubes come in different sets and a variety of colors. The set of 4 is available from Amazon Prime for $24.99. What I liked about this set of packing cubes was that they came with a nylon laundry bag, which is always helpful for travel. The variety of sizes allows them to fit in different types of luggage, and each packing cube has its own handle.
This past weekend, the Barre Code wrapped up its Resolution Remix challenge for the month of January. The goal was to use a bingo card filled with challenges to mix things up, from trying new formats and class times to completing a one-minute plank or 20 burpees. I knew with the right amount of planning, I could accomplish my goal of blacking out my bingo card.
I was so excited when I finished up the challenge with over a week to spare, filling in all of the spaces by January 23rd. I was the second client at our studio to get it done, and by this weekend, there were 19 of us who accomplished this goal.
All the remix bingos
This challenge helped push me into a new gear for the beginning of 2019. I’ve been a faithful Barre Code client since hitting the ground running (or tucking, or squatting, or pulsing, rather) in September 2018, but the Resolution Remix challenge was just the thing I needed to tap into that New Year Motivation mood.
Then, this past Super Bowl Sunday, Zack and I also participated in a 5k with his boss, Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Governor Whitmer’s goal for 2019 is to complete one 5k a month, and she just so happened to be signed up for one not too far from our house. When Zack said he had volunteered to help staff the governor and needed to do the 5k, I decided to sign up at the last minute. While my shins are really feeling it a couple of days later, it was so great to do something new and unexpected to mix up my routine.
Getting to that finish line with the governor
These accomplishments are helping to distract me from the fact that while I’m transforming in some ways, other things aren’t changing as quickly. The big one is the number on the scale.
That darn scale. No matter how often I try to avoid using it all together, or try to focus on the strength I have gained over these last several months, I can’t help but let a part of me focus on the fact that this is one tangible change I’m not seeing yet. The number, though lower now than it was in September, is moving at a snail’s pace.
It’s safe to say that our daughter Margot is OBSESSED with “Frozen.” I have watched the original movie, plus the “Frozen Fever” short and “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” special, more times that I care to admit. There are always requests from the back seat for “Anna song!!” As we approached Margot’s second birthday, it made sense to have “Frozen” be the theme.
That thought was further set in stone when I saw a post on Facebook a few months ago about a company called Princesses by Bianca. Looking at the photos and learning about the company, I thought that having Anna and Elsa at Margot’s party would be the perfect entertainment for Margot and her little friends. Who doesn’t love meeting Disney characters? We knew Margot would go nuts when she saw them, but it was also fun imagining how all of her friends would enjoy it, too.
With Margot’s birthday falling on a holiday, it has made sense to have her birthday parties a week or two later to give us time to prepare and have more people in town. Wouldn’t you know it that after a month of no snow, Margot’s birthday party day would also be the first big snow storm of the year?
We joked that it was our fault for inviting Elsa and Anna to Okemos for the day. But despite the worries about the roads and the layers of salt in our foyer, it ended up being the perfect backdrop for a pretty magical afternoon.
Here is the story of how I fell in love with The Barre Code.
This past June, I had my first taste of The Barre Code when the East Lansing location held its grand opening. I even wrote about the transformative experience I had, thanks in large part to the philosophy of The Barre Code that focuses on self-appreciation and finding your own strong.
As part of The Barre Code East Lansing’s grand opening, the first two weeks of classes were free to the public. I took advantage of this opportunity and tried out a couple of other classes. The team from Chicago also gave me the chance to attend a class at their Lakeview location when I was visiting my friend Jen this past July.
While I loved everything about The Barre Code, I already had a gym membership elsewhere that wasn’t getting as much of my attention as it should have been getting. In my mind, I wasn’t prepared to make the commitment to myself and the consistency of exercise. There were so many excuses, from having to think of childcare (or bringing my clingy one-year-old with me to the gym) to figuring out when in my day I would have time to fit it in.
Yet the words from my very first Barre Code instructor Kaye stuck with me deep inside of my soul: A 50-minute class was essentially 5% of my day. That is 5% of my day just for me and no one else. Why was it so hard for me to give that to myself? Continue reading “The month I fell head over seat in love with The Barre Code”
This weekend was a big milestone in our family: Margot’s first haircut! I think I had been holding off on getting her hair cut because it still felt so early, especially in comparison to her big sister. Stella barely had any hair for a long time, and her first haircut was after she turned two.
Margot on the other hand has always a lot of hair, so she has rocked the Pebbles ponytail on top of her head for many months. But it was getting very unruly, so it was time to bite the bullet and get it cut. Little ones end up looking so grown up with their hair cut, so I have no doubt I was trying to hold onto as much of the baby phase as possible.
Stella’s first haircut was with my stylist Nathan at Red the Salon in Birmingham. She was old enough to sit still pretty well. Now she gets her hair cut at Mirabella in Okemos, and her stylist Courtney does a wonderful job with her hair. I considered taking Margot there, but with her still being so little, I felt like going somewhere more catered to little ones would be the way to go.
Thanks to my local mom friends, I learned about Lockworx in Lansing. Lockworx features a small salon inside called Little Locks Salon, which is only open on Saturdays I learned. Luckily when I called on Friday, I was able to make an appointment for Saturday morning.
