Update & Random Things

This past week has flown by! Matty is in full-blown homeschool mode and I'm finally getting used to alllll of the apps we need to use in order to get his assignments done. He knows how to navigate everything more easily than I do. He's had several Google Meets calls now (one was with the entire Kindergarten class...I'll let you imagine what that was like). 

He's been writing Matt as his name instead of Matty recently. I'd say I don't know how I feel about that. But, I know exactly how I feel about it and it's not good. Just another reminder that he's getting older and time is flying by so fast! 

Sometimes Matt and I get on margarita kicks (not complaining) and I wanted to share how we make them! It's not really a recipe since we eyeball it every time, but here it is:

- 1 shot of tequila (we've been loving Casamigos)

- splash of Trader Joe's Margarita Mixer (I had no idea, but this stuff doesn't expire for a good while)

- splash of La Croix (I like tangerine, but their lime or key lime flavors would be good too!)

- either a little bit of bottled orange juice or even better, fresh squeezed!

- lime slice (I recently got these so we'd have lime slices on hand without having to think about it in the future. Excited to try them out!)

I recently got Hannah this Lila and Hayes set from Ashby Mae (a local children's boutique we've loved for years) and she wore it for 3 days straight - no kidding. She loves how soft it is and the fact that it has short sleeves. For some reason, she absolutely despises long sleeves so I've been trying to buy her more short sleeved tops. I just love this picture of her!

One local/small business that I forgot to mention in my last post that I absolutely love is Doukenie Winery! We've been going there for years and just recently became members. We should've done it sooner! They have wonderful grounds with a gorgeous pond that the kids really enjoy playing around. They just had their first "Virtual Release Party" over Zoom and we had so much fun "socializing" (aka people watching through the computer). The winemaker taught us a little bit about the wines, took us through a tasting and some pastry pairings, and then answered questions that people submitted in the chat! Obviously, it wasn't how they wanted to celebrate their release, but they made it work and we had a great time!

Well, I didn't think I had much to say. But, I guess I did! I hope you all are enjoying the warmer weather we're starting to have! Thank you so much for reading :)

All Things Peloton

Peloton - something I could talk about all day (and quite frequently do - haha). There hasn't been a time that I've gotten off the bike feeling ungrateful and unenergized. Dead? Yeah. But, always grateful and happy. Exercise has always been something that has made me overall much happier, but it hasn't always been easy to fit in (especially with a 4 & 5 year old). So this bike has literally changed my life for the (much) better.

I do rides about 5 times a week (sometimes more, sometimes less). There was a time when I was very strict on myself when it came to my ride schedule, but since schools closed and homeschooling became a thing, I've given myself a bit of slack when it comes to that. I also often add in an arm or core workout (included on the app) after the rides that I've found to be very effective. They have different lengths; I mostly do the 5 or 10 minute exercises. The kids really enjoy doing those with me too!

There's so much to talk about when it comes to Peloton, the community, the instructors, my personal experience, etc. I'll start with the instructors since I got that question on Instagram. When I first started riding, I solely did rides with Ally Love. She's uplifting, her energy level is always spot on, and I love her music choices which is a huge part of it for me. It's hard to enjoy exercising without music that pumps you up.

After my first 100 rides ("Century Ride"), I started to branch out as to who I was willing to try and now I've taken classes from 12 different cycling instructors. A couple new favorites:

Cody Rigsby - I love his energy! He is absolutely hilarious and it's always grounding when he says "It's not that deep, boo." It's so easy to get wrapped up in your workouts, thinking about how hard it is and suddenly you find yourself clenching your fists or scrunching up your face and it's just. not. that. serious.

Alex Toussaint - To put it in a few words, he just asks for your best. He makes you reassess how much effort you're putting into your ride. He's real and that's something I appreciate. "You woke up today" is something he says often and it's an easy reminder to stay grateful.

Another question I got on Instagram asked how I stay motivated. And the answer to that is, I'm really not sure other than I genuinely enjoy working out now which I never thought I'd say. I dance on the bike, sing the songs out loud, laugh, cry (yep), and celebrate milestones with friends, family, and total strangers. This community has brought out something in me that I would've never guessed was there. I'm literally getting sappy over an exercise bike. Lol.

By the length of this post, I think I've proven that I could talk/write about Peloton all day. If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to answer them! Let me know if posts covering rides I've done and tips I've picked up would be interesting to you!

As always, thank you for reading :)

Navigating Homeschool + Local Takeout

Happy Monday! It’s the second official week of distance learning for Matty! We've gotten into a groove of doing his schoolwork in the morning so they can play in the afternoons. Honestly, I don't push him too hard to do a certain amount of work each day. Just as long as he gets his assignments in on time, I'm happy! While Matty is doing his work/watching teacher videos, Hannah is usually coloring, playing by herself, or watching the videos too. Maybe she's picking up some Kindergarten material! Who knows.

I'm not super crafty, but I tried my best with Matty's morning binder. I got the idea from a post from one of his teachers on Google Classroom. He has a few different pages in there where he can keep track of the day of the week, number/word of the day, rhyming, and letter practicing. He's one that really thrives on structure and routine and has been enjoying it!

For math, we've been using either pom poms or cut up construction paper for his counters. The pom poms work better, but we only have a few since they seem to keep disappearing - haha.

This is our "homeschool" set up! Luckily, the kids got the table and chairs from Santa this past Christmas or else we'd have to turn our dining table into their work area. I love the table because it's super easy to clean, has a couple of drawers, and is the perfect height for them. I've found that the more containers we have for organization, the easier it is for the kids to clean it all up when they're finished. It's only this clean in the early mornings and is usually a mess by 8:30am every day :)

Parents, do you have any tips on staying organized for homeschooling? And if you're a teacher reading this, I'd love to know what ideas you have to enhance home learning! Thank goodness for teachers, am I right?!

We have been doing really well with making our meals at home, so we ordered takeout a couple of times this weekend from some of our favorite local restaurants (King Street Oyster Bar & SideBar). I love the crab cake sandwich from Oyster Bar - it's one of my favorites around! Plus, their fries are so good!

On Saturday, we ordered from SideBar's Brunch menu later in the morning after we realized that they take Brunch orders until 3pm. I got their avocado toast (which is amazing), Matt got "The Hangover," and each of the kids got a jumbo cinnamon roll. Everybody wins ;)

Some other businesses we love to support that are going above and beyond to continue serving their customers safely:

Tuskies (Tuscarora Mill) - one of our very favorites for any meal, especially Sunday brunch!

King Street Coffee - love their iced honey lavender latte!

The Wine Kitchen - their croque monsieur and burger melt are absolutely delicious.

Ashby Mae - a children's clothing boutique where I love to shop for the kids' clothes.

27 South - the most gorgeous home design store and they currently have a 20% Off Everything sale going on!

Tuckernuck (local-ish to us) - simply love everything on their site.

Are there businesses you love that are trying to make the best out of the new regulations? I'd love to check them out!

As always, thank you so much for reading :) Hope you have a great week!

Baking bits + a new-to-me rosé I'm loving

Like I said in my last post, I have been doing a ton of baking lately. Really everything from homemade Belgian waffles to macarons to granola...I've pretty much been baking anything that comes to mind. I think my most proud creations have been the macarons (I've done vanilla & French buttercream and chocolate) and croissants (I made plain and chocolate). For a simpler recipe, Matt has raved about the blueberry muffins I've been making that have a touch (1/4 tsp) of almond extract in them - SO good!

I think it's obvious that I don't have any experience in food photography, but I enjoy it nonetheless!

While I haven't developed my own recipes yet, I would like to one day! I feel like I have a lot more to learn both technically and scientifically before I start doing that. With that said, I do feel as though I've learned a few things along the way so far that might be helpful to other novice bakers like myself and will share them as they come up! The most basic thing I've learned to date is that it's extremely helpful to have a kitchen scale in order to measure your ingredients. Measuring cups are great, but baking is so precise and getting the exact weight measurement for, say flour, makes a world of difference. If you don't have a scale or aren't interested in purchasing one right now, fluffing your flour with a spoon and then scooping it into your measuring cup is a good way to do it as well :) I have this scale. The glass top makes it easy to keep clean!

I love talking about anything related to baking, so let me know if you have any questions or if you're planning on making something soon! :) 

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably have already deduced that I love a good rosé ;) I'm no pairing expert or sommelier, but we do live in NoVA (haha) and I really enjoy wine tasting and learning about the wine making process. So, I wanted to share a new-to-me bottle that I've been loving lately! I found this "French Blue" bottle at Target for about $12. It's not too sweet (which I love) and has a great mixture of fruit flavors (watermelon, strawberry, and cherry). Super crisp and perfect for the warmer weather we're having!

What's your favorite drink? I've also been using this time to try making a few different cocktails and will share a new recipe next week!

Happy Friday! Hope y'all enjoy your weekend :)

  

Family Update

Just as I feared, I haven't posted on my blog since last year. But, here I am! It's been a busy year! I left my job this past December, started staying home with Hannah, and now I have both kiddos at home until Matty starts first grade in the fall. I've had different emotions over the entire "quarantine" situation, but I've mostly felt blessed and happy. I'm grateful to have both Matty and Hannah home with me again when I thought that time was a thing of the past. Any chance I get to watch them interact and build their friendship during the day, I feel incredibly blessed. They were really missing each other while Matty was at school and now they have all the time in the world to play together ;)

(We've been going on walks/bike rides whenever the weather permits and it has quickly become a favorite part of our days)

When I say they're the sweetest kids, I'm not kidding! Of course they "fight" like normal siblings and try their luck with me and Matt from time to time, but overall they are such joys. We love being able to witness them finding their own humor and watching them grow every day. Just as a general update: Hannah is 4 and Matty will be 6 in May (crazy!).

We've been doing a lot of different things to take up time while everything is closed down. I've been baking pretty often (and subsequently learning a lot of new things/techniques), we've taken to spending a ton of time outdoors (which I love!), and of course we have been trying our best at "homeschooling." I've found that it's best for us to get schoolwork done in the morning so we can spend the warmer hours in afternoon playing outside. Matt is still having to go into work everyday, but we've been making the most of our evenings together as a family and have been enjoying trying out new recipes for dinner! Recently, we've made spaghetti with homemade noodles, chili pie, and shrimp and grits. So good!

(My first macarons I made! I was super proud of the "feet")

We all had a wonderful Easter! We planned early on to try to make the holiday as "normal" as possible. We watched our church's Easter mass live on Facebook, the kids did their egg hunt, and we had Easter dinner. It really was a great day! 

What have you been doing to stay sane during this weird time?

There's so much more I want to update everyone on, but I've already made this post a long one - haha. I hope to stay more consistent this time around and think this downtime might be the perfect opportunity to get on a good writing schedule. Also - I just want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to read all of this! Your support means so much to me :)