I Love Pinterest, Snack Edition

Sunflower Fruit

Ok, I'm not going to lie. I drank the kool-aide and am totally addicted to Pinterest, it has quickly become part of my weekly Internet routine. Well, you can find all kinds of great craft/DIY projects, recipes, tutorials, etc. and organize it all. I love it because there is so much stuff I find on the Internet and forget about but with this you can keep track of all the stuff you love and find some goodies you never would have know about.

Here are a few fun snack ideas that I think would be great for the summer, play dates, family get togethers, you name it!!

1. Frozen Yogurt Dots, what a great idea for the summertime!Also, another way to "make" yummy frozen yogurt, is to just stick gogurts in the freezer and pull them out whenever you want a yummy, healthy treat. I love these dots because it looks so easy to just pop them in your mouth and go...athough, I do wonder if they melt quickly. Might be a great idea for a birthday party.

2. Smoothie Freezer Packs, fun quick and easy. Put a couple in the freezer and you have a treat ready to go when your in a pinch. Looks like you make just about any flavor combination to make your favorites.

3. Crescent Pizza Rolls. How fun are these? I mean really, I think it would be so much fun to have the kids make these with you one afternoon. They are so quick and easy. What a great idea!


4. Owl Cupcakes how adorable! I already have an owl addiction but these just take it to another level. They are so cute and would make great treats for a party! Love, love, love.

These are just a few of my favorites and there are a ton more out there. Go, join, explore and share! Look for another post in a little bit about some of my favorite crafts I have seen up there.


xxxo.

Curls Gone Wild

 Hello lovelies as my friends and family know I have big,crazy curly hair that I used to fondly refer to as the "wild beast" but today I want to share a few of my secrets with all of the other curly girls out there. I might also in the future keep recommending products that I find and like. I am always trying and testing new conditioners, gels, treatments to find what works best with my hair.

If curls could talk they would tell you a few things:

1. All curls are different and all curls like different things so be willing to spend a little money on finding what products do and don't work for you.

2. Curls are don't like to be touched, so please keep your hands of otherwise you'll have a head full of frizz.

3. Curls are thirsty, so keep them nice and conditioned. I usually do a deep conditioning treatment once a week in the shower.

4. Don't shampoo your curls everyday. Shampoo strips your curls of your heads natural oils which coat the hair shaft and minimize frizz.

5. Your curls will always look good, just wear them with confidence. Whether they are big and messy and frizzy, they can't look bad... and, everyone is always jealous of them. :P

Recently, I have started using Macadamia Natural Oil products that I have found work great in my hair. I know they are kind of pricy but totally worth it. Not to mention, they are on sale buy one get one free at Target right now. I use the nourishing leave-in cream, the healing oil, and the curl refreshing cream after I jump out of the shower. Sometimes I add a little Brocato gel to my hair if I want a little extra hold (like on humid days.) This stuff is great, I honestly don't feel like I have anything in my hair and can usually get some form of second-day hair out of it. Spend the money, try it out, I don't think you will be disappointed.

The Garden Patch

So about six months ago C joined the girl scouts and one the first patches she was earning was her gardening badge. We started out with a small seed kit to grow herbs from Wal-Mart that quickly sprouted with plenty of sunlight. I was actually so impressed that I went back to store and bought my own starter kit to have at home and now we are overflowing with basil. After awhile, C's herbs were to the point where they needed to be repotted so once again, I picked up some really cute pots for her at Wal-Mart. To make a long story a little bit shorter, it inspired a mini-garden in the backyard that has finally sprouted! I am so proud of C and her little green thumb her garden looks great and she is learning a valuable lesson in where food comes from and the hard work required to produce it.  I think gardening is a great way to get not only get kids outside but they also learn a variety of lessons from it. Not only are they learning about what different plants look like and how they grow, they also learn valuable lessons in hard work and patience.

Here's a pic of C's garden, it looks marvelous! She most definitely earned her badge on this one :)

National Vegetarian Week: Sitti

 I had the treat of dinning at Sitti this weekend with a friend. The website describes it as authentic Lebanese food but honestly it seemed like somewhere between Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food.  They offered a wide variety of vegan, vegetarian, as well as carnivorous cuisine. For my dinner, I decided to order three small "mezze" or small, sharing platters in Arabic. in the top left corner is the Village Salad, in the right is the Sundried Tomato Mezze,  and the bottom right is the Goat Cheese  Stuffed Peppers.  All in all, the village salad was my favorite out of everything. It reminded me of Greek salads I grew up on. The sun dried tomtit mezzo was ok, but kind of your standard mediterranean pizza and I wasn't particularly fond of the stuffed peppers. I think I imagined them tasting differently in my mind. 

All in all it was a very delicious meal. Great for the vegetarian and vegans out there! Go give it a try and have some fun. 

Happy National Vegetarian Week!

Good afternoon lovelies! Happy National Vegetarian Week to all of you. In celebration of all the vegetarian and vegans out there, I stopped by Farmer's Market this morning and picked out this weeks vegetables. Once again, I love spring time and all of its bounties. This week my best find was my far a lovely bunch of green beans that were the freshest, best looking I have seen in a long time and around $1.50 a pound.

I will try and post some of the boy's and I favorite vegetarian meals throughout the week in celebration of all the vegetables out there.

The spinach I picked up this afternoon, that I promptly wash in my handy dandy salad spinner. 

Smithfeild aquatics center

Really short post today about the Smithfield Aquatics Center located about 45 minutes outside of Raleigh and maybe 15 minutes from where my kiddies live. The aquatics center is a great option for rainy days or to just mix things up from the routine. They have a big pool and a great splash park, as well as several fitness facilities. I usually take D to the splash park which is open Monday/Wednesday/Fridays from 10 am to noon. Its a lot of fun for the kids to play in and I would say no more than two feet deep at its center. The facilities them self are clean and when we've been never too crowded. They offer a great variety of classes.

The Park: Clayton Community Park

Goodmorning lovlies. Just a quick little snippet today about the Clayton Community Park located right next to the Clayton Community Center. Since my family lives outside of Raleigh this park is great for anyone living in the Clayton/Garner area. It's right behind the Little Gym in Clayton.

I love this park to take the kids to and have a little picnic and playtime. It has two playgrounds which is nice because one is a little bit bigger and geared towards the older kiddos and the other is a short walk away but slightly smaller for the slightly smaller ones. There's some great climbing structures for them to play on, slides, a large sandbox, swings and a pretty large shaded picnic area. Along with the playgrounds there is also two sand volleyball courts, baseball fields, tennis courts, and a half mile paved path that goes around the park and a large pond. 

The park isn't very shaded expect for around the pond so don't forget to pack and put on your sunscreen. Overall though, the park is great and a great way to spend a couple of hours with the kids. Sometimes I'll pack up their bikes to ride around the path while I trail behind :)