Category: obsess much?

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“This Will Only Hurt a Little” by Busy Phillips is a must-listen

For my birthday this year, my friend Andrea gifted me with a three-month subscription to Audible. Considering I have been devoting more of my time in the car to listening to podcasts, listening to audiobooks felt like the perfect extension of this new habit.

Before downloading the Audible app, I had never listened to an audiobook before. Really! I’ve never read a book on an e-reader either. I think in some ways I haven’t wanted to give up on the ritual of reading a book, holding it in my hands, folding over the pages to save my place.

But truthfully, it’s been rare to get the chance to sit down and read a new book. So I was really excited to experience a book in a different way. Plus, I liked the idea of listening to a story in the author’s voice.

Enter Busy Phillips, and her new memoir “This Will Only Hurt a Little” that was just released in October. With my Audible subscription, I could use my monthly credit to download a book, so I decided to wait until Busy’s book was released to set it up. Continue reading ““This Will Only Hurt a Little” by Busy Phillips is a must-listen”

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The month I fell head over seat in love with The Barre Code

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”

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My favorite photo spots around the Lansing area

Blame it on Instagram. As I spend my days documenting my daughters’ lives with my camera (or often, my iPhone), I have realized how much of a difference it makes when the photos have a colorful, interesting background. There’s a reason why people line up to take photos in front of the WhatLiftsYou wings in Nashville, and why the Purple Wall at Disney’s Magic Kingdom is an Instagram cult favorite.

There’s just something so satisfying about photos in special places, particularly when the places stay the same while the subjects grow and change.

Today, I visited my friend Stephanie and her girls with Stella and Margot in her hometown of Mason. Mason, an already impossibly cute town, just recently unveiled a beautiful floral mural by artist Chris Garcia. The mural, on the alleyway side of Kean’s, has several larger than life flowers in bright colors.

I knew this mural would make a beautiful backdrop for photos of the girls (the mamas snuck one in, too). And it made me think of all of the other places around the Lansing area that I love to use as backdrops for photos.

Here are some of my favorite spots to take photos. This will definitely be a walk down memory lane. Continue reading “My favorite photo spots around the Lansing area”

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Postcards from Portland: A weekend with the Maine Squeezes

Travel for fun is one of the most special and wonderful things in life, and sadly something that doesn’t get to happen all too often. So when my friend Linda had a flight voucher and needed to get a trip booked, she put the word out to our group of friends last summer to see if we could plan a girls trip. This was such an exciting prospect.

It’s rare enough to get to travel with Zack for fun now that we have the girls, and funnily enough, we’ve tried to travel more as a couple after having kids than when it would have been a lot easier to sneak away for a long weekend here and there. But to be able to get away with friends, especially when there are multiple kids and pups and jobs involved, seemed like a marvelous idea.

After much discussion about time of year and focusing in on the east coast, we set our sights (and sails) towards Portland, Maine.

I will say that I didn’t know much about Maine, only that Julie “The Cat” Gaffney from “The Mighty Ducks 2” was from there. But the area looked beautiful as we began to dig into the details, and it checked off a lot of boxes: potential for water activities, a delicious food scene, and beautiful scenery.

We booked our trip for June 21-24, a sweet little long weekend getaway to a seaside town. It felt like it would take forever to get here, but now, the trip is in our wake.

And it was a delicious and wonderful trip filled with innovative meals, sea air, belly laughs, cute dogs, and lots of memories. I can’t tell enough people how much they need to go there.

Here are some postcards from Portland, Maine. Continue reading “Postcards from Portland: A weekend with the Maine Squeezes”

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Check out The Grand Experience at the Lansing City Market

Summer is (almost!) officially here, and one of the things I love the very most about the warmer months is the growing number of fun Lansing-area events and opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.

This summer, the Lansing City Market is the place to be for lunch and dinner during the week, thanks to The Grand Experience. The Grand Experience is a new initiative inviting locals to enjoy the scenery of the Downtown Lansing riverfront while dining on food from local food trucks and vendors in the afternoons and evenings — all summer long!

Continue reading “Check out The Grand Experience at the Lansing City Market”

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Check out The Barre Code in East Lansing

Tonight was the first time I cried in a workout class for a reason other than being completely drained or exhausted. I just got home from taking a free class at The Barre Code in East Lansing, the brand new location of a franchise that truly lives up to its code of empowerment and motivation:

We live by a code. The Barre Code. We believe in our bodies. Our abilities. Our strength. We accept the differences that make us beautiful and strive for beauty that makes a difference. Every day we work hard to realize our potential. To dig deep and discover what we are capable of. To earn our bodies. We are relentless. We live to evolve. To exceed our own extraordinary expectations. We live by The Barre Code.

Continue reading “Check out The Barre Code in East Lansing”

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Etsy spotlight: Tundra and Taiga

I wouldn’t be my mother’s daughter if I didn’t love jewelry. And despite wearing the same simple things each and every day, I love when a fun piece of jewelry can really add something colorful and fun to an outfit.

I recently received some handmade jewelry pieces from Clare Corcoran of Lansing; Clare is the owner of the Tundra and Taiga Etsy shop and specializes in jewelry, as well as sun catchers, mixed media artwork, and sculptures.

I told Clare that I particularly loved her wire work on her jewelry pieces, and that I like a variety of colors. She sent me several fun pieces that showcase her work with beads and fun combinations. Continue reading “Etsy spotlight: Tundra and Taiga”

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Rejoice! Baskin-Robbins is back!

As the days are warming up, it’s finally feeling like the perfect time to get a scoop of ice cream. In our area, there are a ton of delicious options (hello, MSU Dairy Store and Tasty Twist), but many of those spots aren’t very close to our house.

So when I saw a Baskin-Robbins sign pop up in the plaza along Grand River Ave. near Marsh Rd., I rejoiced. This location is the first one in the Lansing area in seven years. When we were in college, Zack and I often went to the one in East Lansing before it closed. And best of all, this location is very close to where we live.  Continue reading “Rejoice! Baskin-Robbins is back!”

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Sanuk Yoga Slings: The sandals that helped me survive Disney World

When it comes to footwear, I think I’ve always been a creature of habit and comfort. At 5’10, I haven’t felt the need to be even taller (I’ve been in the back row of group photos for years). And I don’t like anything about wearing high heels, so at some point I decided to avoid them — and any other uncomfortable shoes — entirely. My wedding shoes were ballet flat jelly shoes with crystals from Stuart Weitzman, and I danced in them for hours. My feet were as happy as my heart.

As a creature of habit, I’ve learned that there is something pretty great about finding a brand and/or style I like and running with it. In general, my shoe rotation includes a variety of TOMS classics that I usually replace after literally wearing them into the ground, and a couple of versions of the Birkenstock Gizeh sandal. These are my staples.

I planned to wear my rubber Birkenstock Gizeh sandals around Disney World last month because they’re lighter than the regular version, and also in case it was rainy on any of the days. But in my Disney trip planning frenzy, I started to look at blogs about the sandals that were most recommended for travels.

That’s when I happened upon blog after blog that sang the praises of Sanuk’s Yoga Sling sandal.

Continue reading “Sanuk Yoga Slings: The sandals that helped me survive Disney World”

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Etsy spotlight: Green Thirteen Co.

One of the things that impresses me most about so many of my friends, family, and former colleagues is how darn creative they are. It inspires me to think of ways that I can help support and bring attention to their art.

The blog seems like a great place to do just that, and hopefully this is the start of many Etsy shop celebrations to come.

I will start with Green Thirteen Co., a shop that specializes in custom invitations, logos, prints, wood signs, and even tattoo designs! The art of hand lettering is becoming a popular medium and for good reason; as someone with not-so-great handwriting, I admire what can be done with a skilled hand.

I first met shop owner Rachelle Welling (then Rachelle Boudry) when I was working at FOX 47. Rachelle was the producer for the radio program Michigan’s Big Show, which was filmed and aired on our station in the mornings. Rachelle and I have kept in touch via social media, and it has been such fun to watch her on Instagram as her business grows.  Continue reading “Etsy spotlight: Green Thirteen Co.”