Dana Burland

Last Saturday we welcomed our sweet, second little boy, Adrian Nick, into the world. I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised as I was by his birth. He arrived three weeks and five days ahead of his due date. Labor signs started just before 4am on Saturday, by 5:30am we were at the hospital and at 12:41pm that day he was born. Turns out my concerns of fighting traffic and or a blizzard now that we live farther from the hospital were not needed. Luckily we had a good Cam care plan in place which included amazing neighbors who stepped in quickly to help until my family made it across the state. My family was already planning to visit us for Christmas, so the timing was quite perfect. We were suppose to host a Hanukkah party the following night. I sent this message out the morning Adrian was born! Adrian is a sweet, sleepy little boy. Just as his daddy predicted he has a head of brown hair and brown eyes. It’s tough to tell where his personality begins and pre-term tendencies...

Whew, this year's card was a doozy. For starters, I'm very pregnant this year. And tired. And achy. And trying my best to get through each day without the addition of more things on my plate. I really, really still wanted to do a holiday card, though. I had a simple idea that B didn't love, so we scrapped that and went with a plan B that ended up not working out as desired. Our card this year is plan C, and due to the level of effort put in with subsequent plans it was gonna be the card no matter how it turned out. Overall I think it's cute. Again like last year, it captures C's spirit, who is the little light of our family. From a technical stand point, this is probably our worst card. The photo is blurry, the lighting is off and it's weirdly angled incorrectly in a way probably only I am paying attention to. Still, I've taken every holiday card photo of ours myself (with the exception of one). I like it to be a fun and creative project for ...

I don't always have my stuff together, but I do try to get a grip on things enough to toss some little goodies in my neighbor's mailboxes as a holiday treat. It's one of those little traditions we started when we moved in three years ago that I sincerely hope I can stick to. It's just three neighbors who get the goodies--low hurdle and high feel good reward. I haven't gone into detail on the blog about the treat each year, but this year I realized maybe I should! It'll help me remember what I've done in years past and heck it's just kinda fun to talk about, no? In December 2017, our first holiday season in this house, I think I made little jars of whiskey caramel sauce (can't locate the recipe, but it's EASY as long as you babysit the pan)... but I also think I made Christmas popcorn (popcorn with drizzled chocolate and sugar sprinkles). Who can remember? It was two years ago AND we were two months into living here AND we had a 5 month old....

In give or take 30 days my little boy won’t be my littlest boy anymore. He’ll be big. Big brother. “Please show me how you can walk by yourself like a big boy”. The player of big boy games and with big boy toys. The eater of big boy food. He’ll have a clear and new differentiator because suddenly there will be another child in this house to differentiate with. With or without baby coming, C already is a big boy. He runs and plays make believe and tells jokes and knows the best part of helping in the kitchen is stealing chocolate chips out of the cookie dough or shredded cheese from the bag. He knows baby is coming. In mama’s big tummy, he’ll say. We’ll see him in the hospital, he’ll say. He’s coming later, he’ll say. He knows all he can know about the way life is going to flip us all around and knock us upside down. Heck, to be honest, I think he comprehends a new baby is coming soon better than I do. With give or take 30 days to go, I’m not mourning the last moments with m...

In August 2016 I wrote a blog post about Ben’s acceptance, and start, to the MBA program at my alma mater. We had been married for just over a year, were living a simple, quiet life in our first house. There were no pregnancies, babies, house moves, new jobs. It was a good time to kick off a big challenge. Three and a half hard working years later, we have a new MBA graduate! It’s weird to think about life pre-MBA program. It’s been so long it’s impossible to remember nights and weekends he doesn’t have some sort of school related obligation to tend to. Plus our lives have changed so drastically since Fall 2016 there actually is no return to “normalcy” as we once knew it. Now we can “retire” his basement office where he’s spent the majority of weeknights stationed until some odd hour in the morning. Now we can resume watching weird Netflix shows on the couch together after putting C to bed. Now we have forever with this huge accomplishment under our belts and nothing bu...

Late in my pregnancy with C I worked feverishly to stock our freezer with easy pre-made meals. With so much unknown as I waited to become a new parent it felt like one of the few ways I could prepare and gain a small sense of confidence/control. Now that I’ve been through this rodeo once before I know how helpful a stocked freezer is for my peace of mind and ease in fueling once baby arrives. My main priorities stocking my freezer this time were: Meals that freeze nicely Healthy, high protein meals to keep me sustained Meals my family will eat A mix of completely made and dump/cook meals Variety Here’s what I’ve made for this go around: Completely pre-made Beef burritos : ground beef, veggies and cheese wrapped up in a tortilla. These were hugely helpful in consuming fast protein one-handed in the newborn days. Chicken cupcakes : ground chicken, spinach, feta cheese and spices baked in wonton wrappers. These reheat really well and are a huge favorite of the family. ...

Instead of traveling across the state for this year, Thanksgiving came to us. At 33 weeks pregnant I’m feeling just too pregnant for cross-state travel. My in-laws came to us, with a turkey in tow, and I made the sides. And I have to say, while it was sad staying home meant we didn’t get to see more family members, I was excited by the chance to make so many Thanksgiving dishes myself. I took several shortcuts to make the process easier. Here’s what I made, and what I’d recommend if you find yourself looking for simplicity in hosting a holiday meal. Menu “Potatoes Deluxe” (classic cheesy potato casserole) This is a total dump and bake recipe. I made it from start to finish on Thanksgiving Day and it was no more than 7 minutes of hands on time. Instant Pot mashed potatoes These are some of the best mashed potatoes I’ve had, and they could not be easier. Bonus points for not needing the holiday-in-demand-oven/stove. I’d even consider traveling to a host’s house with my Instan...

On Sunday we played on the grass in mid-40 degree weather. Monday morning there’s no grass to be seen. It’s all covered with snow which continued to fall all day. Winters come fast around here. Not only do they come fast, but unlike the other seasons that bat back and forth at each other for a bit, winter comes definitely on its own terms and sticks. The new snow made me nervous and excited all at once. Last week I hit 30 weeks in this pregnancy, but somehow that felt unbelievable and maybe even insignificant compared to the drastic view out my kitchen window. This hearty thick blanket of snow means we’re in baby season. This is the white blowing powder we’ll eventually drive to the hospital in. These peaceful snowflakes are what we’ll see out the window when we’re swaddling up baby warm and cozy inside. This is the season. This is his season. We’re here now and better be ready for it.

Last night a sweet little toddler escaped from his daddy-led bedtime routine to tell me he was growing baby brother in his tummy. He’d like to name him either “baby sister”, or “pizza”, he told me. Then he told me he loves kisses and thanked me when I gave him a peck on the cheek before he ran back to his room ready for bed. Oh that sweet and silly little boy--the one who likes to tuck his stuffed animals in to play sleep and gives them unprompted hugs and kisses, sometimes afterward saying “thank you I feel better now”. He will make the very best big brother there ever has been.

We had a standard busy-without-actually-doing-much family day on Saturday. Without trying to I spent the majority of it on my feet and ended the day in a regretful recline. Oopf. I just can’t hang like I use to at toddler-plus-29-weeks pregnant. Luckily dinner tonight was super hands off. It’s one I’m going to have to remind myself of as this pregnancy progresses, as said toddler’s play needs continue to increase, as this pregnancy ends resulting in TWO babes needing attention, as we enter the cold just-give-me-something-cozy meal days, and heck for the semi-regular can-someone-else-please-just-be-in-charge-of-dinner days. I love to cook and make an epic mess of our kitchen, but also love a day with few dishes, little effort and a meal at the end that still feels healthy(ish) like so many convenience dinners don’t. Pinch Of Yum’s Instant Pot Mac + Cheese Notes: Not sure if the boys in my house would eat whole wheat pasta or not, I used regular elbow noodles and this turned out ...

So it snowed, and rained, and was blustery cold for us this Halloween. That hardly mattered to our 2-year-old who was excited about his costume (which by an unplanned, happy accident fit beautifully over a winter coat) and the "parade", which he kept calling Halloween night. This year C was a slice of pizza for Halloween--his favorite food! I made his costume based a new-sew Pinterest tutorial , which took about 30 min to make, set me back less than $10 and only resulted in a few first degree hot glue gun burns. He got some good wear out of it too! He wore it when we were up north to the local early Halloween parade downtown, he wore it at daycare and he wore it trick or treating through our neighborhood last night. We went to 6 houses, at each he said "trick or treat!" and "thank you". I think he would have happily kept going but we didn't want to stray too far away from home in the gross weather and thought he might enjoy seeing kids (all 5 of...

There’s no bucket of toys at my great aunt’s chalet up north. No cabinet of push cars, no closet of art supplies. Just a few board games yellowed with age from the 70’s, a couple decks of cards and a set of poker chips. When we were growing up and family vacationing at the chalet us kids would find ways to entertain ourselves. We built forts by tucking extra sheets under the top bunk mattress to wall off the bottom one, we wrote “novels” in notebooks, organized our Petoskey stone collections and made elaborate potato chip/ranch dressing/deli meat sandwiches for lunch. And we played for with the poker chips. What does a kid do with a ton of plastic chips, you ask? Who knows but we busied ourselves for hours stacking, sorting, organizing, trading and carefully putting them back into their wooden holder in colorful patterns. This past week we were up north at the chalet again. I spent the week there with my mom and C, while more family joined on the weekends. We had some beautiful, ...

Well here we are-- two trimesters down , one to go. This pregnancy has been different than my last in so many ways. This second trimester a second time around too, different than the second first one. I could sum up, and end, the blog post now by saying it’s been achy. Very achy. My hips, back, stomach, all of it aches daily. I’m trying to stay active, which is harder to find time for while parenting a 2-year-old, while also reminding myself parenting a 2-year-old IS staying active. I’m trying out kinesio tape to support and distribute my belly weight. I’m taking almost nightly baths to loosen my back which feels locked up by the end of the day. I’m trying to stretch more, stay hydrated more, sit properly more and whine less. While dealing with the daily aches I don’t have any major pregnancy related complications. I’m healthy and baby is healthy. We’re growing the family we’ve always dreamed of. I’m so lucky and grateful for that.

Last week marked our two year anniversary of living in this house. Here’s the first picture we took, when we took possession of the house, two Octobers ago. October 11, 2017 When I see that picture, I see someone else’s house. Everything from that picture, from windows to fireplace surround is new-to-us now, with the exception of the carpet. We’ve changed so much about the house--made every room feel like our own. We’ve grown as a family here. There’s no unidentified plant growing in the yard or house creak or crack noise we aren’t familiar with. We now have all the bedrooms filled. The basement is still a mostly unfurnished indoor gym for an active 2-year-old, but it’ll soon get more attention. We have a bit more space to grow, but mostly we have just enough room to stick together. Across the street is a pond lined with trees. They’re all changing colors. They glow in oranges and yellows, and remind me of when we first took possession here and marveled that we would get t...

I totally forgot to blog about the user experience training I attended! This is training I’ve attended before , but had a recent opportunity to go to again and sit in on new-to-me sessions. I was in Chicago for the conference for three days, each day in a different track. Here’s a little about what I learned in each one: Measuring UX & ROI To over simplify, this session was about how to track how website changes made in the name of better user experience are worth their cost--and their association to the overall business objectives. We talked about using website analytics to tell the story of positive change or increased sales. A basic example is We were only getting X% of users to click “buy now”. Based on user testing we determined it was located in the wrong spot on the page. After moving it we’re at Y% of users clicking “buy now”. If you multiply that increase across our average sale we can confidently attribute this change to a $Z increase in profit each month. ...

After two shampoos I got all the dry shampoo, hairspray and wedding bliss washed out of my hair. Last night we celebrated one of my oldest friends as she got married. Tori and Matt had a beautiful fall day in downtown Detroit for a church ceremony, pictures around town and celebrating. I was one of seven in the bridal party, which was a huge honor, especially after getting to meet the other girls in the party, and extra especially because I got to walk down the aisle with Tori's brother Patrick, who I also grew up with and am a #1 fan of. Being in a wedding is a weird thing. After a year plus of excitement, prep and waiting, finally the one day it's all lead up to comes. Last winter Tori had us pick out our bridesmaids dress style from an online shop, as long as they matched in color, length and material. I wasn't pregnant , but thought by her October wedding I could be, so I ordered a forgiving style. When it arrived in early Spring I was shocked at the handfuls ...

B and I are back from a week-long trek to Arizona and California. We spent a few days outside of Phoenix at his grandparent’s retirement house, nestled into the middle of a 60+ retirement neighborhood with no internet or cable TV. Minus the 100 degree temps it was just the speed I was looking for. We went for walks in the morning and at sunset, slept like our toddler does, and did some exploring of nearby Scottsdale too. From Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and school The real reason we were out west was to attend a friend’s wedding outside of Joshua Tree in southern California. They had real hippy/desert vibes going on, with a relaxed ceremony and reception held on the sand at the base of the mountains, and eventually under a beautifully starry sky. The most noticeable (and most participated in) feature of the wedding was a weed bar, which to my brand of rule-following Midwesterners was just wow and hmm worthy. Unfortunately it meant me and my ...

Last Friday we did something unusual. We went out. At night, with no babe. Downtown. To a concert. Our normal babysitters were out of pocket when I did my rounds asking about the concert date. I had just about given up when I decided instead to push on and hunt for new sitters. So Friday night we tried to sneak out while the sitter had C occupied, went to a nice dinner, and made it to the venue with enough time to get snacks. I’m not a huge Avett Brothers fan, I like them but I hardly know all their songs. Ben didn’t know much from them at all. It ended up being a really good concert! Really great vocals, awesome energy, good songs. We left bigger fans than when we entered, and more relaxed and connected too.

It’s the unofficial start of fall, which feels like a good time to report on this year’s garden. 2018 was our first Spring in the house. I took a hint from chives that popped up in a flower bed near our A/C unit and threw a few basil and rosemary plants in the ground nearby. My herbs did great so in Spring 2019 I expanded my plans. We pulled out some perennial flowers to make room for starter plants I ordered from our YMCA’s veggie program. In early May my basil, rosemary, parsley, brandywine tomato plant and bull nose bell pepper plant arrived. I had them planted in the ground about a week before Memorial Day. Here’s a recap on their performance: HERBS My basil went wild! The 6-pack of pants grew tall (3-ish feet) and hearty. I have a lot of pesto to make. My parsley did well, too, though ended up overshadowed by the remaining perennial flowers. The rosemary, also in a 6-pack, did great standing up to nearby abuse from the tomato plant. BELL PEPPER My bell pepper plant, also...

It’s a wildly unpopular, dangerously curmudgeonly opinion to share--but I’m so glad to see this Summer season close. These last hot few months have hit like an avalanche. We’ve been jam packed with plans to the degree that finding a spare moment to weed the front flower beds have felt like a small miracle. There was so much good like summer trips and weekends watching out 2-year-old run through the sprinklers with his grandparents and the heck-yes accomplishment of intense double-header grad school semesters completed. And there was straight up muck to wade through too like hand foot and mouth disease for two and a rough first trimester of this second pregnancy . That’s all part of what makes this an easy goodbye. The good is past us now and the bad--peace, farewell, be gone with you. On Labor Day we woke up in our house after a weekend of traveling. C helped me make waffles and then we met up with neighborhood friends at a park for the boys to play and the adults to day...

Today I’m officially halfway through a full term, 40-week pregnancy. 20 weeks down, 20 to go. Wee! This is a tougher pregnancy than last in so many ways, not limited to the time and toll spent chasing a toddler around. So far I’ve got a round tummy, a mostly-nighttime little kicky baby and aches galore. Mr. C has some idea of what’s going on as he’ll give the baby a hug around my middle and a quick kiss too. He’s pretty certain on his name suggestions too, switching out between “Pizza” or “Baby Benny”, which is the name of our neighbor’s newborn. Not to spoil or tease too much, but neither are the name Ben and I are feeling quite confident, and almost certain, in. Our big to-dos over the next few weeks are to transition C to his new big boy room (pictures to come!), and to enjoy one last big trip we’ll take just B & I . More to come on that, too, of course.

I know, waffles are not dinner, but the Eggo frozen waffles were a staple of mine in the morning while dealing with first trimester morning sickness , and thus they became reallll interesting to C. Lemme say up front I hate carrot cake! Ugh. Carrots do not belong in cake. Spices do not belong in cake. No, no, no, no, no! However, I live with a toddler (did you see my string of no ’s up there?). There are times I need to sneak some veggies into his life, and this works. I start with this Alton Brown Basic Waffle Recipe , which is a time-consuming luxury leftover from my childfree days. You could start here, or with a pancake or waffle box mix--whatever. Then I throw a handful of carrots and a peeled/cored cut up apple into my food processor, and add the chopped up mixture to the batter. I sprinkle in a little nutmeg and a bit more cinnamon and cook them up. You know, for my aforementioned hatred of carrots in baked goods, these waffles are good and more importantly toddler app...

And just like that my first trimester is done . I had forgotten some of this experience , and experienced some new things this time around too. My greatest feelings this trimester were excitement and secrecy. We found out about babe #2 in early May, right before Mother’s Day. And because two healthy pregnancies resulting in two healthy babies feels nothing short of miraculous, we opted to keep the news to ourselves for a while. I’m not an anxious person, but I’m not completely calm and confident while pregnant. In first trimester especially, there’s no bump to see and no baby kicks as reassurance that everything is going well. I had also forgotten how intense and regular “morning” sickness can be. I had it worse this time than I did last. For two full months I felt incredibly sick, every day, throughout the day and night. This time, unlike last time I experienced a weird sensory sickness too, where sometimes watching TV, listening to a podcast or reading a book made me feel sic...

If you were here for dinner last week you’d have seen a big batch of chicken meatballs with roasted red pepper sauce and the easiest pasta dinner ever. So easy I’m kicking myself I didn’t get into it sooner. The chicken meatballs from Pinch Of Yum are a Cam and fam favorite. I like that they’re so  fast to make, cook without any monitoring and that my sneaky addition of chopped spinach has gone undetected by the boys in the house. I served them up with a modified version of Pioneer Woman’s Roasted Red Pepper Sauce once and this has accidentally become The Way to eat them around here. Related to that mentioned modification: I use MUCH less butter/olive oil, often forget the chicken stock and add MUCH less heavy cream. I really struggle loving PW for how much excess she adds where it seems so unnecessary. Sometimes I cook up pasta with the chicken meatballs and sauce, other times it’s just meatballs and sauce. Either way I sit back in parental glory as I watch C devour chic...

Special announcement! Special announcement! I’m pregnant! You may already know this if you’re family, friends or coworkers. You also might already know this if you’ve seen me lately. Unlike this time last pregnancy, it’s a little more obvious a little earlier something is going on. We found out we were expecting the week before Mother’s Day, which made celebrating my second Mother’s Day feel extra, extra special. I finished my first trimester right at the start of July. It’s true, the second time around it feels like this is all going by much faster, but I suppose that’s in help to a very speedy toddler we have running around the house. We’re really, really, really thrilled. Thrilled like last time, but different, because the newness factor isn’t there and we can comprehend what this means much more. We’re a bit terrified, too. Because now that newness factor isn’t there! We know with better certainty what’s coming, and simultaneously have no idea what’s coming because we’ve...

Wahoo, our little boy is 2! This birthday felt like no surprise. C’s a walking (running), talking, joking, tumbling (somersaulting), funny, kind and smart toddler. He already seemed 2 to me. Then again it wasn’t long ago we brought this 6-pound squirmier home from the hospital. It’s wild to think how much he’s grown in a short period of time, and a very accomplishing feeling too. B and I have had a long on our plate/minds the last few weeks, and the next few weeks to come. This weekend has been long booked with must-attend engagements unrelated to C’s birthday. It felt me feeling like his day wasn’t going to get the glitter and jazz it deserves. I’m happy to report we pulled off a great day for C. He blissfully, and rightfully!, knew nothing about mom/dad’s stress levels. Two days before his birthday I hung pennant flags all around the house—on the mantle, on top of built-in cabinets, over every walkway/archway on the main floor. This , in case you’re looking for it, is what...

Let’s always have July 4th on a Thursday so we can roll it into a 4 day weekend, ok? We had family in town staying with us for the long holiday weekend and had so much, exhausted-every-night, kinda fun. On Thursday morning we walked down to the Cascade 4th of July parade. It was the first time we’ve been in town to go and we loved it, even if C was a bit scared of the loud fire trucks. We played in the backyard, ran through the sprinklers, tossed toys around in the kiddy pool. One morning B and I snuck away while the rest of the crew went to the GR airport observation park, a new favorite activity, to watch airplanes take off. We hit up the local splash pad which C just recently has mustered up enough courage to find exhilarating, calling the fountains “big rain!” A group of us snuck out at nap time another day to Wax Poetic to make candles, which was both more challenging (choosing scents) and easy/fun than I expected. We ventured over to Millennium Park beach one mornin...

So, it’s not done yet, but our mudroom is basically there and certainly done enough to share about it. We. Are. So. Thrilled. With. This. Turnout! It’s such a game changer for our family, and once it’s done done , I might just need to sleep in there for a few nights. It also gets the best A/C kick off of any room in the house, so there’s that too. If you’re unfamiliar with this project, I’ve taken a pinch too much time to create before and after floor plans:   As a quick recap, we borrowed some space from the garage--space that was already raised for storage, not available for car parking. We enclosed the access from the garage to the yard in the mudroom(though replaced the door for a door-with-window for natural light) which gives us better yard access vs. the front door or back slider which opens into the carpeted living room. Here's Part 1 and Part 2 of this project--with more pictures! We moved the closet as to not lose storage and opted for a ...

We're back from a week out west, visiting family and exploring lots of the Pacific Northwest. We biked, kayaked, walked, hiked and tramed through Portland; took a road trip and ferry ride to see totem poles, beautiful gardens and wharfs in Victoria, British Columbia; we hiked mountains, walked through rainforests, visited quaint lakefront lodges and saw bald eagles in Olympic National Park; we played around sea-stacks on Pacific Ocean beaches; and hiked through the Oregon dessert at the Columbia River Gorge. It was a very busy, and very beautiful trip. While I recover on my couch and throughly enjoy my first few hours of not moving, here are some of my favorite pics from the week.

Buckle up kids. I found a capital R, Recipe. I had a feeling this would be good when I saw it on Pinch Of Yum , and then I tasted it after and was like whoa mama. I prompted called B in for a taste and he lost his mind and almost devoured it all before I was done cooking. He’s now made the bold statement this recipe is in his top 5 list of fave things I make. That makes it instantly blog worthy. This is candy pork rice bowls. The key is the freaking delish pork. The rest can be modified. But the pork--you need to make this, stat. Candy Pork Rice Bowls Modified from Pinch Of Yum Ingredients Pork tenderloin Brown sugar Soy sauce Brown rice or quinoa Veggies (I used carrots, red cabbage, green onion, snow peas, radishes) Directions 1. Slice up your pork thin. Super, super thin. 2. In a medium bowl mix soy sauce & brown sugar. You’ll want enough of this mix that the pork is just submerged. I’d err on the side of 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar for each cup of soy s...

Today was a normal work day. Ben went in to his office and I went in late to mine, after a dermatologist appointment. After work I talked with the construction guy working on our mudroom and then picked up C from daycare. C and I spent the night playing together, including a dip in the YMCA pool. Ben has grad school class tonight, and when he gets home late he has to hop on a work call with coworkers in Australia. Today is also our four year anniversary. We’re in a busy season of life, for sure. A period where vegging out on the couch to a Netflix show together feels special. A season filled with a lot of independent hours and where we sometimes need to email each other to iron out family logistic details. But still, every day, there’s love. It looks different now than it looked four years ago on our wedding day. It’s deeper and wider and a solid partnership. It feels really sturdy, which is great in the face of said busy season where time together is not always available. ...

One of my besties and her boyfriend were in town visiting for an extended Memorial Day Weekend. They’re from Pennsylvania, and while she’s been to Michigan once before, I’ve been dying to show off more of the state. I gotta say, I think I might have two new Michigan converts on my hands! Friday night we got drinks at Founders and wound up at The Bob, which is real hard not to love especially after a game of giant Jenga and shuffleboard. Saturday was the true show stopper, though. We woke up and drove up to Sleeping Bear Dunes, where my Pennsylvanian buddies were just floored by the beauty, vastness and that all that water was a LAKE not ocean. We made it to Ludington for an epic lake sunset and grabbed dinner before calling our busy day done. I mean, take a look at this pic Dave captured: View this post on Instagram memorial. A post shared by dave meyers (@dvmyrs) on May 27, 2019 at 5:55am PDT Sunday we walked out to...

Remember this project ? We’re more than halfway through and the crew is making awesome progress. The framing is up. The drywall is up. Electrical is almost done. The floor is prepped and ready for tile. The crew is over most days working for most of the day. When we get home from work we’re always curious to pop our head in and spy on the progress being made. This spying, I’ve decided, is so beneficial. We’ve been able to poke in a few times and say “what about this ?” or “what’s that ?” We’re staying involved in the project thus there are no surprises. I’ve worked from home a few days and caught the crew to chat about some of the more detail oriented elements of the project. Exactly how deep should the bench or cubby above be? What way should we lay the tile? This is also great. We’re connected and at times modifying our original we-know-best plans with recommendations from professionals who have done this stuff numerous times before. I think our result is going t...

We were up north this past weekend for the annual Zoo-De-Mack bike race . Only my dad and brother were brave enough to weather the low 40 temps with near constant rain to bike 51 miles from Harbor Springs to Mackinac City. While the boys biked and shivered the whole way, the rest of us (C, B and my mom) shopped around town, got lunch and marveled at all the big trucks doing construction work. Well, the littlest among us marveled at the trucks. It really was a crappy weather weekend to be up north. So much rain. So much cold. So cold, honestly, almost too cold to be out playing. In May! But I’ll never care what the weather is like up north. I love being away, I love being there and I love revisiting old memories of favorite cookie shops and stores and making new ones watching C steal G-Pa’s water bottle over and over and giggling the whole time.

I had a really nice Mother’s Day weekend! Family was in town visiting, which meant I got to be with my mom on Mother’s Day, and C got to be with his “Baboosh”, which is just the highest of treats. We stayed busy visiting the farmer’s market, a flower shop for a kid’s “Make It For Mom” event, our favorite bakery (hello, Cakabakery) and Tulip Time in Holland. Speaking of Tulip Time in Holland, the last time we were there was two years ago. Check out this year's picture compared to the old one from 2017.     From an almost mom to a very full mom, I’m so very grateful.

This is the story of a cheese board that never ends–yes, it goes on and on my friends. This past weekend I was in The Middle Of No Where But Still Near A Lake, Michigan with two girlfriends for our second, twice-a-year mom’s weekend getaway . Per tradition, each one of us takes a meal time and preps food for the group. I was on lunch duty, and an early request for grazing/snacks vs a sit down meal lead me to the idea of a cheese board. I’d hardly claim myself an expert at cheese board building, but man did this version turn out (if I may brag) rockin’. We had cheeses and meats and fruit and veggies and crackers and nuts and jam and honey. I let myself be driven by the theme of variety so everyone could nibble at stuff they loved. It was great. We snacked all day. And the next day we came home relaxed and tan and with glowy face-masked skin and me with mounds of cheese board ingredient leftovers. But then I remembered Game Of Thrones Sunday, another new tradition wherein our...