How did I do on my yearly to do list?

1. Pay half my car off by 12/31/10 Pushing this to Q1 2011
2. Finish remodeling the media room DONE!!!3. Get the garden up and going again DONE!!!
4. Design a nursery DONE!!!
5. Teach the puppies some manners DONE!!!!
6. Do one half marathon (SB 1/2 Marathon) DONE!!!
7. Re-Organize (currently doing) DONE!!!
8. Go to Hawaii October 2010 -Kauai!!!!
9. Do one big craft project each month (currently doing) Was great until kupcake came along and wanted to play all day long.
10. Get Back in shape by 12/31/10 DONE!!!
11. Get up to date with all vacation albums DONE!!!
12. Find a yoga class I can go to DONE!!!
13. Reorganize and redo back guest room Done!!!
14. Cook 4 nights a week for 1 month straight DONE!!!
15. Take a vacation to a destination I've never been to (going to Philly for Vday)DONE!!!
16. Work out 5 times a week for 3 months straight Next year...

Not to shabby I must say.  What a great year it was!  Can't wait for what 2011 has to bring!

Row row row your boat...

That's how we all felt today. Southern California is getting quite a doozy of a rainstorm.  If it doesn't let up soon, we'll all have to bow down the hatches and start paddling to and from the house.  I guess we need the rain and really I don't mind it.  I think my only complaint is that I really was looking forward to taking my daughter for walks but I guess that will have to wait till later this week.

  In other news, I am all done with my Christmas shopping.  Thank heaven for amazon's app and prime shipping! HOORAY!!!  I have about 4 more presents to wrap and then completely done.  Now onto more important things... DINNER PLANNING!!!

• Monday - In & Out (grilled cheese of course... no beef for me!!!) YUMMM!!! 
• Tuesday - Shredded Pork and Potato Soup -Must share this recipe with you because it is the BOMB!!  
• Wednesday - Homemade Turkey Meatball sandwiches
• Thursday - Chicken Fried Rice
• Friday - Italian Christmas Dinner with family (it's tradition and it's DIVINE!!!)
• Saturday - Ham and all the fixings... YUMM!!!  
• Sunday - Dinner at the club...perhaps?

Soo looking forward to tomorrow's meal.  I made the soup tonight so while the kupcake was passed out.  The shredded pork will be done in the crockpot.  Isn't the crockpot the best appliance ever?!

  In other news, my weekly to-do list:

• Finish kupcake's felt sushi/toys
• Mail the last of our christmas cards.  I have them addressed but not in the mail box... bad me
• Tidy up the house
• Finish the store front main page
• Clean the inside of my car, it's never been this dirty, it's a bit pathetic.
• walk 10 miles 
• Find my Love Actually DVD. It wasn't in the case and it isn't like it walked off.  One of the best Christmas movies made.  
• Enjoy this week off with my little girl.

 Hope you have a great Christmas week!

Cake balls...

You know the hundred cake balls I talked about early on in the week? Well, our HUGE cookie swap turned into only 7 of us so I only had to really do 42 or so, 1/2 dozen a person. I ended up making some candy boxes for the hubby to take to work and wrapped mine up all nice and purrty.  :)  As hard as it was to make and decorate, I had fun with it and boy did the chocolate ones turn out good!  YUMM!

 

 I also typed up the recipe so I can hand out to at the swap.  Just in case you lost yours, here you go!

Who needs sleep?

  Yesterday I didn't get to sit down and relax until I fell asleep.  I felt like I was going non stop, between the inventory I did, dinner, cleaning the great room (living and dining areas) and kitchen, mopping the floors, folding little clothes, folding my own, and playing.  It was a good night at the planner house hold but feel like I'm already a little behind my to do list.  Tonight is another dinner (at least it's easy stir fry and the rangoons will be quick to make), baking cakes for the cake balls and balling them out, I hope I can even sneak in a small walk since it will be nice and crisp out (Yea, storm is coming!!!!). Fingers crossed I get to bed before midnight again.
     
In other news, 17 days left 'til we ring in the new year.  Where did this year go?  It's funny, I literally spent 50% of year pregnant, and the other 50% being a mom. It's really has been my favorite year so far in my life.  I'm really excited to see what next year brings.  How will you remember 2010 and what are you looking forward to 2011?

It hurts so good...

At least that is what I'm telling myself.  Another half marathon done.  COMPLETED... and boy am I exhausted. It was Summer.  BLAZING HEAT and my legs felt like heavy.  It wasn't my finest hour but whatever, I have a new medal so that's all I care about.

  Oh and this heat I'm talking about? Sorry, it's December and although I do live in SoCal, I WANT sweaters and scarves. I want sweatshirts and fuzzy warm boots.  I want fires in the fireplace and excuses to make hot chocolate.  I WANT WINTER GOSH DARN IT! (Seriously, I need to lay off of decaf coffee, look at all the cap letters already)

Moving on...I decided I am definitely going to train for 13.1 in LA next month.  I can't have another showing like this one.  Next one I want to finish in under 2:50 so I really need to start running again.  I just have to get my @ss out there. This week though, I will take it easy and rest since my knee is about to blow up.

 Let's plan dinner shall we?

• Mon:  Shredded Chicken Tacos and Salad
• Tues:  Tofu Stir Fry with Baked Crab Rangoons
• Wed:  Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Thur:  Nacho Supreme with Shredded Pork (reminds me of Kauai...yum)
• Fri:     Turkey Meatloaf and Potatos and Gravy
• Sat:    Dinner Out
• Sun:   Fish Night 

YUM YUM!!!  I made the chicken and shredded it last night.  It's sitting in the frig COVERED with seasonings like paprika, chili powder, pepper, among other things.  DELISH!  (there I go again...all caps)

  On the misc things to do list for the week, my life will go something like this:

• Make 100 vanilla and chocolate cake balls for cookie exchange (i know it isn't a cookie but who cares)
• Put away about a million pieces of little girl clothes
• Finish updating the store's inventory list and get CC working for it
• Walk 5 miles 
• Make felt sushi for our kupcake's first christmas present
• mail out the last of our holiday cards
• Finish christmas shopping (online of course)

So there you have it... A preview of my week to come.  How is your week looking?

Train for a half marathon in 6 days!

  That's what I'm doing.  Did I run last week.  NO!  I even had my workout gear WITH ME but did I go? NOPE! Could I have gone at night after kupcake is sleeping? YES! Did I? NOPE! Did I have support and people at home encouraging me to go run? YUP! Did it help? Made me feel worse.

  So, because my lazy tush didn't run.  I decided to do a crash course training schedule.  It isn't like I'm asking myself to run to Bali and back.  Just to the school down the street or to the park around the bend. I'm pathetic!

 Little Miss Planner's Half Ass Attempt to train for a Half Marathon

                                                               

Mon: Run 2 miles

Tue: Run 3 miles

Wed: Run 3 miles

Thur: Run 2 miles

Fri: Run 2 miles

Sat: 2 Pilates Classes

Sun: Run 13.1 miles

Pretty Sad isn't it! Basically if I run 12 miles (less than a half) and do two Pilates classes I will be ready for this race.  Well, probably not but at least I won't die out there near the strawberry fields.

  On a lighter note, I found out something quite interesting.  I decided to check out Weight Watchers again (online of course) and noticed that things changes since I last logged on.  New style of counting points and how points are calculated. A little harder to figure out so hopefully that will get me going through the rest of the month.  And I lost a few more lbs, how that happened is beyond me since I had some See's Candy last yesterday. Okay, I have 4 pieces. Stop looking at me! :) 

  Now onto meals for the week.  My dad has been staying with us during the weekdays to help watch our little rugrat and in order to have control of everything, I have to plan ahead.  Time to introduce to you our meals for the week:

•  Sun:  Sloppy Turkey Joes (SOOO GOOD!)
• Mon: Chicken Satay & Peanut Sauce with steamed sesame veggies
• Tue:  Crock pot of Beans and chili with homemade Tortillas
• Wed: Tofu Stir Fry
• Thur: Grilled Panini's with broiled brussels sprouts
• Fri:    Order out!

Cannot tell you enough how excited I am for each meal.  YUM!  Somewhere in there I have to make cookies (8 dozen) for work.  Phew!
 
 How's everyone's week looking like?  Hopefully less busy than mine!

Things you've been meaning to do...

I have a list the size of my arm of things I've been meaning to do.  On top of that list is run.  I know I am always saying I'm going to run, but truthfully, I never seem to get my tush out there and pound the pavement.  Case in point, running gear in my car and I can go during my lunch break but will i?  Well, maybe today since I am writing about it and I'd feel guilty if I don't.  Still, It irks me that I'm not running.  ESPECIALLY since I have a 1/2 marathon (yes another one) in 12 days. 

So this post is for me to come clean.  Here is a run down of things I've been meaning to do:

• Run. A lot!
• Lose 10 lbs.  I'm so not a person to look at the scale but seriously, I have two boxes of clothes that I really want to wear and while I love to shop, the lack of paychecks the past 6 weeks (due to maternity leave) kinda hindered that desire.  Yes, I hit my prepregnancy weight (hit it end of September) but I guess things just aren't the same and need to tone and tighten up.   Funny thing is I don't remember being that tight before the kupcake came along. Goal is to lose it by 1/1/11.  Back on WW I go.
• Talk to my friends.  One of them literally is DOWN THE STREET and do I talk to her? Nope, not for the past week.  Must make a better effort there.  
• Pull out the holiday decorations.
• Clean the floors, oy, they are diiirrrrttttyyy! Good thing kupcake isn't too mobile yet.  Yes, she rolls around and scoots a little here and there, but right now she's more focused on this whole standing up and trying to walk thing.  (She's only 5 months old!)  I figure I have at least till Christmas till I have to worry about keeping clean floors.
• Find a nanny (will shoot off the questionaire today...promise)
• Finish doing inventory and get the store up and running (oh, we are opening a store, will talk more about that later).
• Probably more things but right now, I'm just drowning in these main things. 

So,  what do you do with the things you've been meaning to do? 

Paying for medals...

So I did it, up and signed up for two more races.  Basically I am imagining myself with two shiny new medals to add to my collection.  One is a 10k on Thanksgiving so I won't feel too guilty for eating an extra piece of pumpkin pie and the other is the Santa To the Sea Half Marathon on December 12.  Have I ran since my last half? Not really, but I blame this nasty cold I caught, THANKS HUBBY!  I go back to work next week (tear tear) and figured if I have to go back I might as well run during my lunch break so I don't feel horrible leaving my beautiful little daughter at home. 

  I need to find a race for either New Year's or just after the holidays so I don't fall victim to the evils of holiday cookies that get made in our household.  (Can't you just see it now, me filling up the containers to send to my brothers all other the country, "one for you, one for me --CHOMP") I say evil yet somehow I am already drooling over the thought of them!

  How are you going to try to stay in shape during the holidays?  

How to Make a Bathroom More Cozy... CSN Preview

We have a water baby on our hands.  Bath time is one of the highlights of our little one's day.  With that being said, our guest bathroom where all the fun happens is basic.  It isn't fun sitting on the cold tile while our little fish splashes in the water.  Every night you could hear the hubby talk about how we needed to spruce it up and add some bathroom furniture in there.  CSN Stores gave us an opportunity to do another review and we thought this would be perfect to get some new bathroom furniture or accessories like a rug and perhaps some accessories that matched to make it more comfortable.

  Searching high and low on the CSN Bathroom store, it was so hard to pick something because there were so many choices.  Did we want to go kid like with gold fish and princess gear? Or did we want to more modern? After lots of debate we decided to this Avanti Cobblestone Rug. It was a nice complementary design with our toffee colored tiles and granite counter top.

I'm so excited for it come and see how it looks.  I know we've never been let down with this company!


Thank you again CSN for giving us the opportunity to check out your different stores!

This blogger received a promo code and did not receive financial compensation.

Into the sea I ran

I have no clue how I did it but I did. I woke up with less than three hours of sleep, drove over an hour walked over a mile to the starting line and ran. It was a like a flash flood of people storming down the streets and paths and boy was it pretty. So I wasn't in the front, I was more of the small stream of people towards the back. I told myself, ok run for 30 minutes and then we can walk and run a little. I hit mile two feeling good so I said I'll walk at 3. Three came and figured I'd rest at four, and that came and on I went and pushed through mile after mile. I blame the scenery for making it so easy! The Santa barbara 1/2 marathon started in a beautiful residential area then we turned onto bike paths that followed a steam. We ran over small bridges, underneath tall trees, and next to wilderness. On mile 9 not only did hit the wall I hit the hill. 170 ft in 1/4 mile. Ouch!!! A man in his bike saw I was struggling and offered me a water bottle and even though I declined he told me it was ok and to take it. So I did and man, that water had some healing powers because after a minute or so of downing it I got my energy back! On mile 11, we made the final big turn towards the ocean and you could see the islands and the brilliant blue ocean. The last water station gave us the best news, it was all down hill from here. I pushed and pushed and found myself doing something I didn't think would happen, beating my mental time I wanted to come in. I figured I wanted to finish in 3:15 because the lack of training and the fact I gave birth 19 weeks ago. 3:15 was good, it meant I tried hard and didn't pansy out. If i came in before that I'd be thrilled. I crossed through the finish line at 2:56! Yea!!! I may not be a fast runner but I'm ok with that.

The teenager placed the medal around my neck and moments later it started to drizzle lightly on us. It was so surreal and beautiful. Nowadays, my life evolves around a 15lb little girl and at this moment it evolved around me. I felt so empowered and alive. The pain in my knees and hips felt good, it was the type of pain that reminded you that you accomplished something. I like that type of pain!

So now, a day later and still a little sore, I feel eager to get back out there. I'm throwing down the gauntlet and going to do another one next month. I decided I am going to do one a month until I can't find one, hurt myself, or other.

14th half marathon is now in the books, time to find where 15 will be!

Sent from my iPhone

Hours to go....

I'm laying in bed, butterflies in my tummy and all I can think about is the pain I will create within my body. I'm wondering when it will hit, mile 4, 6, 8? Will my knees hold up? And the hip? How much will I walk? Did I pack everything? Will I hear my alarm? What time will I cross that finish line? Will I be ok?

My mind is racing and I feel so nervous and excited. I can't wait to feel the weight of the medal around my neck. I can't believe this will be my 14th half marathon! Ok... Must go to sleep now and hope I can at least sleep a bit before the race!

Sent from my iPhone

What was I thinking?

I only have three days till my next half marathon. I am sooo not ready! I was doing so well with training until my knees starting hurting and then I kinda just... Well, stopped training. I've been going to boot camp, Pilates, yoga and walks with my other mommy friends, but still is it enough? I don't think so!

This week I decided to push myself running as a last minute ditch effort. I have to admit this feeling is familiar. I can recall a "few" half marathons that I barely trained for. I guess I just have to remember how to move one foot in front of another and just push myself to the end.

On the weight-loss front, I finally hit pregnancy weight a few weeks ago. It felt so nice to button my jeans and finally put away my prego clothes. Ive gotten lazy and stopped paying attention to what i ate and the weight stopped coming off. Problem is that my regular clothes still feel tight so I figure I have 10 more lbs to go. Uggh! New goal is to hit that by Christmas (hopefully sooner).

With fall hitting, do you feel less motivated to work out? I for one can't tell the difference here, it 95 out and November 3rd. If you live in cooler climates, can you send some of it our way? I miss fall!

Go vote!

Mommy and I voted, did you?

Boo!

Miss me? We've been so busy in the planner household I've gotten so bad about blogging but I now that we are figuring out how to balance life I will be back to our old blogging routine. In the meantime, to drum up some holiday spirit, here's our little pumpkin! Happy Halloween!

Two months ago...

My daughter was born. We were surrounded my family and held our new addition with loving arms. She napped all swaddled up was just adorable. Today, she naps spread out on us and is still just a doll! Time is just flying by and loving every minute I have spent with my little darling!

Training for the SB Half Marathon Week 1 of 12

If I have to train for some silly race I thought was a good idea back in April, I'm going to make you read about my agony!!!

• SUN Stretch and Strengthen:  DONE
• MON 3m:  DONE
• TUE 2m or cross: Did Zumba and went on a walk with 1.5 mile walk with friends
• WED 3m + S:  Did Yoga, Pilates and even snuck in the 3 mile walk/run
• THR rest: DONE
• FRI 30 min cross: Leasure stroll to relax my body
• SAT 4m: Didn't get a chance to go... to busy with the family.

How do I feel? 

  It felt good to finally go running again.  I missed being on the road and even missed the soreness of it all.  

Anything to note?  Spent the weekend in Laughlin with my family so didn't get to go on my long run.  Also this heat is making it hard to really get out there.  BOOO!



HUH? What does it all mean?
m = mile
cross = cross training

Training guide care of source

CSN Review... my beautiful new tablescape...

My new table runner finally came from CSN Stores: Dining Room Store. It is amazing and am kicking myself I never took a photo of it to show you (I'm totally blaming being a new mom on that one).  From ordering to receiving it, it was here within 6 business days, and that is with the normal shipping. What can I say, I am in love with CSN Stores.  I already have 5 things I am going to order next week that I need/want. 

Thanks again CSN for the opportunity to review your services.  

This blogger received a promo code and did not receive financial compensation.

Last week's progress

So I'm here to own up to what I did or didn't do.  Overall I am very happy with how it went. 

• Mon:  Walk to the store - 2 miles 
• Tues:  5k walk and Zumba in the evening
• Wed:  Postpartum Yoga in the daytime with my little one and Pilates in the evening
• Thur:  2.25 walk 
• Fri:     too hot to do anything
• Sat:    Pilates
• Sun:   Training begins!

This week, my training schedule looks like this:

• SUN Stretch and Strengthen
• MON 3m
• TUE Zumba and possibly a walk in the morning with my friend and her new son
• WED 3m +Yoga + Pilates
• THR rest:
• FRI 30 min cross:
• SAT 4m:

Uggh... Today I did the three miles and boy was it hot (I only ran less than a mile of it though).  I have to wake up earlier to really get out there and move.  Not looking forward to Wednesday since it is such a busy day, might move my 3m to Thursday, we'll see.  Also, my 4m run is when we'll be visiting with family in hellish hot Nevada heat.  Granted I will be cool in the gym running or at least attempting to run.  :)  Any case, that's how it is all going.  I will now be doing posts on how it went on Sundays to recap.  Wish me luck this week! 

Just a few days to go before it all begins...

The countdown clock has been officially been placed on the blog for my first half marathon post pregnancy.  I have to admit I am a little intimidated for my first run/jog/walk next week.  In order to make sure I can be prepared I have quite a bit of exercise planned for this week.

• Mon:  Walk to the store - 2 miles
• Tues:  5k walk and Zumba in the evening
• Wed:  Postpartum Yoga in the daytime with my little one and Pilates in the evening
• Thur:  5k walk 
• Fri:     5k walk/job and 30day shred dvd
• Sat:    Pilates
• Sun:   Training begins!

So yes, I'm trying to prepare myself the best I can without killing myself.  Sounds like a lot but everything is within reason.  Also I'm still ahead of the plan to hit my pre-pregnancy weight by Mid Sept.  It'd be nice to hit it before but not holding my breath.  This whole thing is going to be interesting to say the least.  I already set up weekly updates so you can all yell/praise me depending on how much I do during the program.  I can't believe I signed up for a half, much less toying with the idea of doing two in two weeks.  I only signed up for one just in case.  Guess we'll see how it goes.  :)

P.S. Why of WHY does it have to get hot when I am starting to train?

How I spend my day....

Instead of telling you how I spend my
day, I decided to better show you! Playing with my little kupcake!

Sprucing up the place... CSN Preview

  Being home you find yourself staring at everything thinking what needs to be done.  This has been my life the last two months.  Now with a newborn I find myself in the living room more often than not, staring at our dining room furniture.  While I love our set, it desperately needs some help with accessorises.  When the lovely people at CSN offered to help me out, I gladly jumped at the chance to get something for the area.  I decided what I needed was a table runner. I spent hours looking at all the options they had and finally decided upon this one:

link

It's chic and not to over the top for our dining space.  It might just be the thing to tie everything together for the space.  I'm very excited for it to come and can't wait to see how it looks on our table!

This whole motherhood thing...

Shhhh... don't tell anyone but I actually found a minute today to blog... DURING THE DAY!  KLM is passed out in her glider (I think I tired her out during playtime) and cloth diaper laundry is already going.  To me, this puts me ahead of schedule and I figured lets finally hit up the blog.  I can't even tell you how amazing this summer has been.  For starters it feels like it's lasted a lifetime for me and anything that happened before June feels like a distant memory.  When I was one leave before she came, I went from going stir crazy to being super busy with my pg friends who were due this summer with me.  Now that she is here, I'm consumed with her.  You think to yourself taking care of a little baby who sleeps alot will afford you time to yourself but you are SOOOO wrong.  We thought that and boy were we off in that train of thought.  It wasn't till this week that it's gotten a "little" easier.  Apparently I'm blessed with a very happy and healthy baby who loves to be held or touched in some form or another, AKA you can't put her down.  I can't complain because I love holding her but it is a pain to get anything done.  Usually nothing gets done.  Today is probably a fluke how easy its been to get to nap somewhere not in my arms. 

  The other thing people don't tell you is how much work breastfeeding is.  Yup, I'm blowing the lid off this one.  It is work and you live your life in three hour increments (if you're even that lucky) waiting till she's hungry again.  I won't even talk about the problems that come it like engorment other than to say, OUCH!  But with how hard it is, it is just as good.  I love bf-ing!  I love it because it is KLM time.  I love looking into her little jewel eyes and knowing I'm doing my best to give her the best.  I love knowing what I eat is what she eats.  I love our connection that no one else has right now.  Even during the hardest times of bf-ing, it's been worth it. 

  Now lets talk about cloth diapering... I'm sure my friends thought I was a freak to even consider it but it's been so easy.  Much easier than everyone thinks.  Sure you have to spray down diapers but I read that you should even be doing that with regular diapers.  Washing them isn't hard at all and I love tossing the liners on the clotheline we have while the inserts dry in the dryer.  Oh, any leakage?  NONE!  She had leakage with the disposables but not her cloth, and BOY does she look cute in them!  Totally worth it.  I think if you have a washer and dryer than you should at least consider it.  It isn't for everyone but should always be an option. 

  Sleeping...well, our daughter crashes around 10pm and is out till 8-9am.  Yes she wakes up to eat and diaper change but that's it.  Yes, I'm blessed! 

Overall, this whole motherhood thing has been amazing.  I can't believe it'll be six weeks this Friday.  Life really moves pretty fast, I'm just glad I can stop and look around right now to enjoy it!

Feet...

These little feet have gone 14 miles this week. Granted, they haven't
left the stroller, but still. So here I am, training for the 12 week
program that starts in two weeks. I know, weird right?! I figured I
might as well teach my legs to walk again more than just down the
hall. To be honest, doing this is the smartest thing I could have
done. After 2 miles my legs ached last week. Everyday i went out in
the afternoon to break up my day and get some sun. Today we did four
and I was spent after. Not to mention the killer sunburn I got. EeeeeKk!
I'm still walking right now and will start the running process with
the actual program but it's a start.

I've also started operation get my body back. I've started the 30
day shred DVD but well, haven't done it everyday. I will try to do it
at least a few times this week. I'm also going back to Pilates in
august. I even talked one of my friends to go to a Zumba class with
me this week (hope I don't faint from exhaustion on that one!).
Weight loss wise, I'm more than on track as to where I want to be. My
goal is to be where I was a year ago by mid September. We'll see how
that all plays out.

In any case, that's that's going on here with me. I'm still
adjusting to how to make time for myself and writing again. Hopefully
I will figure that out this week since tmw is a new month! I'm not
going to put up any "i'm going to" type of thing about that because
well, I'm a slacker and forget what I said I'd do and then the next
rolls around.

Enough about me... what about you? Have you kept up with working
during the summer?

Wednesday Ramblings

I was going to go to the computer and do Wednesday ramblings but
instead this little ladybug fell asleep on me and well, I prefer doing
this than typing on the computer! Can you blame me? Happy wednesday!

Wednesday Ramblings...

• I love being a mommy!  I love the lack of sleep, I love the smiles and even her little tears (even if it does break my heart), I love your scent and I just love love love holding my little cupcake.
• I'm finally feeling mostly back to my old self.  I have just a little more weight to lose before I can feel like I used to feel. 
• Speaking of losing weight, I decided I am going to start the 30 day shred dvd.  I am going to get my @ss handing to me!  I know it!
• We started a photo blog for KLM, if you are interesting in seeing it, email me and I'll send you the invite.  We decided we'll post a photo here and there on this blog but wanted something we can share with our families (who are scattered all over the country) to see how our little one is growing up.
• On the menu for tonight, Chicken Kabobs!!!  
• I am soo not a summer person, this heat it KILLING ME! 
• Only 4 more weeks till Laughlin!  I love our summer family trips there!  This year we are celebrating my parent's 45th wedding anniversary!  They were great examples of what married life should be like. 
• I do not miss work at ALL!  If only I can figure out how I work from home and never go back!!!  Chances of that happening are the same as winning the lottery. Uggh!
• I have 5 thank you cards to write...must write them today. 

Back to your regular scheduled programs

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to blogging... But you can't
blame me if you had access to little panda feet like I do! This week
my goal is to post 4 times... Yes this counts as one! Gotta go, I've
got to go cuddle with my little cupcake!

CSN Review... lawn games

  Well, I'm finally back... have soo much to write about but I wanted to tell you all about what we thought about the Bean Bag Toss we got from CSN Stores.   We received the backyard game the night we went into labor and you know me, we ripped it open and played it that night.  Needless to say I lost, kinda hard tossing bean bags while having contractions but can I say this game is addicting.  My friend Sara pointed out that in her neck of the woods it's called Corn Hole (because the bean bags are made of kernels).  This by far was the best thing we could have gotten!!!  We've played tons of games with friends and family since it arrived and the hubby is practically a pro at it by now!   

  One of my favorite things about ordering from CSN is their customer service.  A few days after I ordered it I received an email from a Representative letting me know that they were looking into why it wasn't shipped out, and then a few hours later I received confirmation that it was sent.  It was suppose to arrive on KLM's due date and it ended up coming two days early! The game is well made and easy to move around.  We already started to look at which other lawn games we want to buy from their stores! 

Thanks again CSN for the opportunity to review your services and will definitely be using you when it is time to finally remodel our bathroom! 

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing you a very fun and safe 4th!

I'll be spending it with my little firecracker!

Well... it finally happened...

There I was, minding my own business while leaving the doctor's office on Wednesday and wham... contraction. 

Well, one led to another and wouldn't you know it, at the end of the contraction rainbow was my little pot of gold.

Did you know that fewer than 5% of the population are born on their actual due dates?  My daughter is one of them, I guess she had a plan all along and doesn't like to be late, just like her momma!

I'm just very thrilled to share the news with you and will be taking a week off from all blogging.  I have a few reviews to post, type up my little birth story, and some other random blogging to do.  For now though, I'm going to go back to our room and stare at my little cupcake!  Life is good! 

closing in on 40...

I just noticed on my google home page we only have 4 days till we hit our due date.  Funny thing is regardless of the contractions and that number, it still seems a world away that any day our daughter is going to be born.  My dad made a comment to us this past weekend how relaxed we were.  I think all the grandparents are more stressed than we are about it.  I do wonder if there will come a point that I too will get a bit freaked out.  For now, I'm not and just enjoying these last few moments before our lives change once again. 

In the last few weeks since being off work I've been keeping myself busy with lots of yoga, spending time with my new friends (all with bellies like mine) and doing random chores in the house.  I've prepared meals and even read most of the magazines that I've held off from the past few months because well, I had no need for ab workouts.  :)  The garden is blooming beyond belief finally and our flowers are brightening up our mundane backyard.  Things are in place you can say, now it's just a matter of adding that extra puzzle piece that's baking in my belly.  She'll come soon, maybe tonight or maybe on 4th of July.  For now though, I'm just happy. 

My Vigilante lasagna

I never made lasagna before.  I always thought it was super hard and had to make a ton.  A few days ago while flipping through my cookbooks I realized I didn't have to follow the norm and just do my own thing.  Armed with everything I needed in the cupboard, I decided I'd just go for it and what do you know, I did a great job.

Vigilante Lasagna (serves two)

1/2 package of ground lean turkey (can you any ground meat you want.  Beef NEVER enters this house so turkey it is)
1 small can of tomato sauce (the sauce can is thinner than paste but you can use either)
1 cup of water
6-8 lasagna strips (depends on how many rows you want)
Seasonings from garden or herb rack (I use the following: seasoning salt, savory, poultry seasoning, sage, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning)
2 cloves of garlic
2 chives (or mini onions)
Ricotta Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1.  Boil some water for the pasta
2.  While that is going, heat up pan for meat with olive oil.  I don't measure it, but I'd say 1/2 - 1 tablespoon.  3.  Cook your meat, when it is 3/4 done, add 1/2 cup of water and all your seasonings (I do two or three shakes of each or a few pinches)
4.  When meat is done, add can of tomato sauce and the rest of the water.  Stir and taste.  If it needs more seasoning add more.  I usually add two or three shakes of each seasoning in it and taste until I can't stop eating it.  When you are happy with it, turn to low and cover to just simmer.
5.  Check your pasta, hopefully it is done. 

Time to put it all together:
Since it's just me and the hubby, I use French Onion soup bowl but I'm sure you can use a medium ramekin or small casserole dish.
1.  Add a little olive oil to the bottom of the bowls to it doesn't stick
2.  Order goes like this:

1. Sauce
2. Pasta (that i cut in half to fit)
3. Spoonful of ricotta (spread out to thin layer)
4. A pinch of Parmesan 
5. A bigger pinch of Mozzarella

3.  I repeat this 3-4 times until I get to the top of the bowl and then final topping of Mozzarella is thicker and thin a swig of olive oil on top.

From start to finish, prep work for it is about 30 minutes.  (photo of lasagna just out of the frig getting ready to wrapped for the freezer)

When it is time to cook, bake at 375 for about 30 minutes till the top is a golden brown.  Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Overhauling the house... CSN preview review

You'd think that the closer we get to KLM's arrival the less we'd be thinking about the house.  It seems like it's just the opposite.  The closer we get, the more we want to do with the house.  Part of it has to do with being home for so long.  Right now, all I can think about is remodeling our bathroom and backyard.  We have this vanity that just doesn't cut it for us.  It's modern but not very compatible for two people.  Then the shower toilet area, uggh... way to small.  After sitting down and starting to crunch time and numbers, we decided that this was going to be a job for 2011 for us and for now, try to do our best with it and focus on the backyard more.

  When CSN Stores contacted me to do a review, I had the opportunity to do another review from one of their 200+ stores.  This time I decided we'd get something for the backyard.  Something that would help us utilize our space and have fun at the same time.  We decided that we wanted to get a game set like this one:

Link

  It seems like it would fit perfectly on our small lawn and something really fun when we have guests over.  Something we'll be having a lot of when KLM finally decides to come around.  I can't wait to test it out!  I know the hubby will be excited to try it too!

38 weeks...

You'd think by this point I'm sick of being pregnant.  I actually like it, even at 9.5 months.  Sure I have the worst back pain since I was a senior in high school and granted my 85 year old grandma could outwalk me right now but still, it's been good. (as I type this, KLM is hiccuping up a storm) One of the things I noticed since being home the last two weeks was my wardrobe and what I wear.  You see, all I can stand wearing now are sleeveless tops.  I don't even remember the last time I wore a tshirt.  Just the idea of putting something on my arms is appalling to me right now.  My addiction even raged into my postpartum clothing went I finally went out and bought some nursing tops.  All tanks.  Yes, it's the summer so maybe that's that prompted it.  Still, you'd think at least one shirt would find it's way in there.  I wonder now if I wasn't pregnant, would I still be wearing tanks day in/day out? 

What are you go to clothes for the summer? 

Still here...

Sorry for being absent lately.  Adjusting to being at home was harder than I thought and well.  I've tried my best to not spend the days watching tv and surfing the web, I've also not spent time blogging.  I will resume mostly normal blogging starting tmw.


As for a PG update:  Baby KLM is still living in my belly.  Hitting 38 weeks and feeling a little big.  Well, I'm off to my prenatal yoga class.  To finally get SOME exercise.  In the meantime, enjoy these two photos taken from our amazing and talented photographer:  Mark Ayoub.  (I was 34 weeks pregnant in these)  I love them! 

Finallly...done...

The side patio that is.

What did we do, other than do the concrete? We added four hanging baskets filled with ivy that hopefully in time will look amazing. We also added three pots of plants to add more texture and create a more tranquil enviroment. The four light figures we got are battery operated so we can turn them on when we please.  For the three big bushes on the left side, we added white marble rocks to offset all red flooring.  I still need to tile the step but that's for when I'm on leave.  I need something to do, right? :)

Here is a photo of our outdoor living space at night (taken with my iphone hence the poor quality).

What do you think?

Project 12 - May update #2

Time for updates!

• Organize the kitchen. We did the pantry and the fridge, but the rest of it has been put off till next week.  I need something to do while I'm on leave.
• Take back the garage. Done!  HOORAY!!!  I parked in there last night for the first time in 6 months! 
• Organize KLM's Room. All done! Even got her bookshelf set up.
• Side garden area. Done.  Took about 10 minutes of bossing the hubby around and me waddling behind him to tell him where stuff goes.  I cannot tell you how good it feels to have it all in one place, organized!
• Organize our schedules. So far, still looking good.  At the moment, I'm putting together of list of meals to make or have easily ready to make for when KLM arrives.  Yes, I am a bit OCD when it comes to organizing stuff.  :) 

Milestones...

During the pregnancy there were always milestones that I enjoyed hitting.  First there were the one where I finally made it out of my first tri and was able to share the news with you.  Next was feeling KLM kick (happened during an u/s so we knew it was her).  Then we found out KLM was a girl (found out before 14w).  We moved on to when the hubby finally felt her move around, then it was when we started classes.  Now the milestones are ones that my mom set up...as to when she had us.  I have 4 older siblings and they were ALL EARLY!  Today I'm hitting milestone 1 -- my oldest sibling was born 6 weeks early.  I'm passing that one up and with each week that goes by, I pass more.  I was the only one that on time.  :) 

  Last night a friend asked me if I was nervous at all and I felt very happy and able to say no.  I'm not.  I wonder if I used up all my nervousness at the beginning when I was worried about if she was okay and healthy.  Now, I'm just excited.  I know it will be painful when the time comes but really, what's the point of worrying about it?!  The closer to D-Day the more introverted I get.  I'd rather spend these last few weeks just enjoying some peace and not deal with others.  Is that weird?  Maybe it's my subconscious getting myself ready for it all.  Who knows... but when the time comes to hit that final milestone, it will be amazing. 

The Patio redesign...

  So now that the hubby has finally gotten the stain on the concrete, we are THIS CLOSE to when I get to finally do something.  Tonight he has to seal it to give it a shine.  HOORAY!  Before I had these ideas of colors and styles but it's changed.  I finally found some photos of the patio before we even moved in.  Yes, they are screenshots of a video I took during our house inspection so they aren't the best but it's better than nothing. 

  By the photos, you can tell it's a long space.  We're moving the basketball game (it's one of those due shot games you have to make as many baskets before the timer runs out) to run parallel to the end wall.  Things we are adding... Two lounge chairs from Ikea.  One will run along the wall of the house and act as a couch with lots of pillows to lean on.  the other will run perpendicular to make it look L-shaped.

Then we bought two of these chairs, again, Ikea.  These will just fill our the space to make it more of a seating area. We bought two end tables that will be used in the middle as a coffee table, easy to move and clean.  We have one planter but I think we might need a few more to spruce up the space and not make it look so empty.

  We also have a bookcase that we used to use for our wine until we got actual wine shelves.  We are going to use these outside and for now put our weights and when KLM gets bigger, we will use it as storage for her outdoor toys.  You know me, things must have their place.  It will also be nice to have a space to put my laundry basket while I hook clothes up the the line (which is out here too but that will have to be another post on how we did it without taking up more space).  I'm not one for too many things but I think it needs more.  I still want to make more cozy so I'm on the hunt for more inspiration. 

Wednesday Ramblings

• Six or so weeks till D-Day!  YAHOO!!!!!  I can't believe the end is getting so close!  I wonder if she'll come early?  Late?  Right on time?  What do you think?
• Only two more classes till we're done with our birth class.  At first I was a bit apprehensive about taking it, thinking I wasn't going to learn anything but seriously, it was COMPLETELY worth it!  You can learn stuff in books but it's totally different when you have an instructor going through it and sharing experiences with you. 
• Brace yourself people... The Side Patio has been stained.  YES!  Now it's just a matter of getting it sealed and we're good as gold!  I hope this weekend we can get the rest of the furniture for it and complete it.  Talk about checking something HUGE off the list!  
• I almost threw the biggest fit this morning.  Yes, the kitchen is mostly clean but since I've resigned myself to being a spectator to putting stuff away nothing is in its place.  Now, I said I almost threw a fit.  I calmly made a comment to the hubby about it and tonight, operation kitchen will take effect so this fit I'm trying to keep in will not leap out of my mouth.   
• This weekend is our maternity photo shoot.  Yes, I fill finally post a few photos here once we get them.  I still don't know if I look huge yet.  Somedays I think I do, others, not so much.  I'll let you decide.  
• Looking forward to Sunday... Sunday means I can nap!  
• I love love love when they do 80's songs on Glee.  Just makes me feel like a little kid again!  Oh and Puck?  DROOL....  sigh!  :)
• Indian food today for lunch!  YEA!!!  Almost makes me as happy as 80's Glee songs!  
• The creature inside is stirring.  Lately she's been getting her feet stuck in/near my ribs.  OUCH!
• Did you know I'm actually very shy?  If I had it my way, I'd be helping in the kitchen during parties instead of mingling?
• I want to share with you my all time favorite quote and a very good way to live.
           I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't think you can measure life in terms of years.  I think longevity doesn't necessarily have anything to do with happiness.  I mean happiness comes from facing challenges and going out on a limb and taking risks.  If you're not willing to take a risk for something you really care about, you might as well be dead.  --Northern Exposure

Project 12 - May update #1

Time for updates!

• Organize the kitchen. UGGH... I have to do this one.  At least the counter tops are clean, but the cupboards... not so much. Maybe next week when our schedules cool down a bit.  :S
• Take back the garage. We put up more shelves and cleaned out a lot of the stuff we needed to send to Good Will. We have about 4 boxes that we need to put back up in the storage space and then I can park in it!  HOORAY!!!
• Organize KLM's Room. All done!  There is one shelf that is a little unorganized but everything is easy to find on it.  I think I might have to leave it this way until I figure it out.
• Side garden area. Haven't touched this area.  I think I might tackle it on Sunday.
• Organize our schedules. I feel like we are going from one meeting to the next.  Today, we carpooled because there was just no point to wait around for each other if we were going to go to the same places after work.  Schedule is packed but it's all set up on my google calendar.  PHEW!

Wednesday Ramblings...

• I didn't blog yesterday... well, more like I didn't publish anything yesterday.  I wrote two posts but they didn't make sense so I didn't post anything.  Oh well, at least I attempted it so to me that isn't breaking this streak I'm on.  :)
• I have two more thank you cards to write from last weekend's shower.  Why is it the last few are the hardest to get the motivation to write?
• So we finally made a HUGE dent on the garage.  After the last few boxes go up in the rafters I can park my car in it.  HOORAY!  It feels so good to have it organized (aside from that set of shelves with random nuts and bolts on it).  
• We got all of KLM's stuff washed.  All her newborn clothes, all her diapers and wipes.  If she came tmw, she have stuff to wear!  HOORAY!
• Don't tell anyone but I have this new fascination with getting coffee in the morning at 7-11 now.  It's decaf so don't be all "you shouldn't have coffee."  It's so tasty.  Maybe it's cause I drink it out of a straw?! 
• Another Wednesday another appt.  This one should be interesting.  Have lots of questions and from what I read, everything is going fine.  Just need to make doc aware of it all.  Not to worry, nothing scary or yucky... just home stretch pg stuff.  Oh the joy.
• Speaking of home stretch... how CRAZY is it that I'll be full term in 30 days?  WHOA!
• We're as menacing as Muppet Babies... LOL... love Glee more than words!!!
• I need to garden... Lettuce is ready to start harvesting.  My tomato bush never grew... boo!
• May was suppose filled with slow weekends... nope, every weekend is COMPLETELY FILLED AGAIN!  Uggh... Hopefully June will have at least one quiet weekend.  Fingers crossed!

The hated chores...

Am I the only one that has a chore they dispise? 

I hate clothes chores.  From the washing to the transferring to the dryer to the folding to the putting away.  Any portion of these chores make me just want to keel over and fake a migraine.  I'd rather be on my hands and knees scrubbing our bathroom floors to washing windows.  Anything!  Now, it isn't like I have to do all these chores.  In fact, the only part of this whole clothing chore process I have to do is put my clothes away.  I'm lucky enough to have found someone that is willing to do the laundry.  Someone who's loves me that much that I won't have to touch dirty shirts or smelly socks.  You'd think that if I got out of the most of it, I'd be happy with folding and putting away my clothes, but I'm not.  Case in point, I had a pile of CLEAN clothes sitting on my bedside table, mocking me for the past week.  This morning I realized I need something from this pile and finally folded everything (sorta).  Now the agony of putting it away when I get home is taunting me.  I know, silly me, it will only take five minutes but still.  I hate it that much.  

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one that HATES some random thing you always have to do.  Do you have a chore you hate? 

Seventh Generation Giveaway WINNER!!!

The winner of all these free goodies is:

         Karissa said...

I would like to try the wipes.

April 25, 2010 2:54 PM

Congrats Karissa!!! 


Thanks again to everyone who entered and especially to Seventh Generation for giving me the opportunity to share these great products with someone!!! Contest here.

Project 12 - May

New month, new project. This month is all about organization. Time to simplify your life by cleaning out your closets and drawers, tossing 9 year old bills that you had in the back of the shelves.

• Organize the kitchen. I hate to admit but my lovely clean panty is not longer lovely and clean. Don't even ask about me about the cabinet near the sink...it's where big items get tossed. Time to change all this!


• Take back the garage. Since the holiday season I haven't been able to park in the garage. This needs to change. It once was nice and clean. Now... not so much.


• Organize KLM's Room. I have this feeling with all the clothes she's gotten by loved ones, she probably won't wear anything twice. With that being said, she has a TON of clothes and it's time to figure out how to organize that. Her closet is now getting filled with stuff and before she comes I'd feel a lot better knowing things have a place and not just stuffed in there.


• Side garden area. There is an area on the side of the house where we kinda toss all the gardening tools, dirt, supplies. It's a mess and it needs to change.


• Organize our schedules. The hubby and I have about a million appts now, either it being doctor appts or fitness classes, work trips or dinners. Time to figure out what we are really doing and not play the game, "what did we just forget to do?"

Do you have any area in your life that needs some organizing?

Project 12 - April update #3

Let's see how we are doing at the LMP household:

• Spend the month without using paper towels. I can safely say I used about 5 all month!
• Set up a clothesline outside and use it 4 times Set up and used once. Since we are STILL working on the side patio we can't really use it during the day until the floor is done.
• Set up BBQ and start cooking outside 4 times this month. Used it this week!
• Instead of the gym, go take a walk at night Been taking strolls with the hubby and the pet mafia.
• Turn off the thermostat Done!

How are you doing

Wednesday Ramblings...

• I finally got the last of my cloth diapers... now we have 29, granted 5 of them are just one size but that's okay. We even have one swim diaper. Hmm...might get one or two more of those so KLM can go "swimming."
• Anyone have any good tips on how to stretch or relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve? All suggestions GREATLY appreciated!!!!
• I can't believe I'm hitting 8 months. I should post at least one pregnant photo of myself before I pop.
• Requisite GLEE SQUEAL!!!
• The side patio concrete paint is OFFICIALLY GONE! Now the hubby will just have to finish parts 2,3, and 4 to be completely done with this project. At least part was about 90% of the entire project's work.
• In serious need to clean the house. No, this isn't nesting...let's put it this way: the dining table hasn't been cleaned since, oh, at least two weeks. Random crap is on there that should have been thrown away, including the dead flowers from Easter.
• So I changed my mind AGAIN on patio furniture. Is that bad? :)
• Finally we have veggies coming in but may need to plant another cherry tomato bush.
• I'm already looking forward to the weekend. The only thing really planned is a hospital visit and clean out the garage. Other than that, it's all about maybe some gardening and getting started on Project 12 - May stuff.
• Bruno started puppy school yesterday with the hubby. Overall, I heard he did well. Very proud of my little teddy bear!

Who's excited for tonight?

TUESDAY only means one thing in my mind... GLEE GLEE GLEE!!!! 

CAN NOT WAIT!!!!

Seventh Generation Giveaway Reminder

Shown here (Disinfecting Multi-Surface, Disinfecting Bathroom, All Purpose Cleaner, Natural Paper Towels, Seventh Gen Recycled Bag, Disinfecting Wipes, Diapers (Size 1 8-14lb), Baby Wipes Tub and Baby Wipes Refill, Baby Laundry Detergent)

There are multiple ways to enter: 

• Leave a comment about which product you'd like to try
• Sign up on their website and leave a comment with your profile link
• Post this giveaway on your website and comment back here with link
• Tweet about this Giveaway on twitter: Enter the Seventh Generation Product Giveaway @lilmissplanner: http://tiny.cc/wtvyg (copy and paste to get credit for it) and comment back.  If you didn't comment back here, I will be adding your tweets found on twitter to the entries.
• Post this giveaway in a forum and comment back here with a link

Yes, you can get up to 5 entries for this giveaway!  Best of luck to all of you! 

The giveaway closes on April 30, 2010 at 5pm PST.  Winner will be announced May 3, 2010!

DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS POST... PLEASE COMMENT HERE!

What a weekend!

This weekend was my second shower. My friends are just utter angels and did a phenomenal job with it all.  Once I get those photos uploaded I can't wait to show you but in the mean time, I'll just ramble on about it.  They choose Bedtime Stories as their theme and every table was a made to look like a little bed with it's own theme.  The food was amazing italian food that I chowed down on and the cake... well, the cake was just spectacular.  It looked like read books with a little baby crawling underneath a blanket.  :)  It was soo yummy, I even had a piece of it last night!!!

 It was so nice to have family and friends around to share in the celebration of KLM's upcoming arrival.  We played games and and laughed, all the while basking in the beautiful weather we were having.  Very nice contrast to the days before where it was gloomy and cold.  Later that evening I headed off to the Spa with my mom to get a little pampering, and then off to dinner just the two of us.  Something that never happens.At the end of the evening we opened all our presents with the hubby and just overwhelmed by the generosity from our loved ones!

  On Sunday, we woke up to the coolest thing in the world.  You could feel KLM's little heel pushing out near my ribs.  We're not talking kicks here people, you could actually FEEL her little heel near my rib!!!  Yup, she's already in perfect position even though she has a little more than eight weeks to go.  After we poked and prodded her to make her move more we did our usual Sunday morning routine, church and breakfast at our local cafe (they know our orders by heart! heehee) and then got my Mom ready to head home.  I spent the afternoon trying to organize KLM's room, and after two hours in there, I maybe got 2% done.  I finally did my first load of baby laundry.  It was the onesies from my first shower.  We wanted to rewash them to make sure they don't bleed on the other clothes later on.  I even got to use our clothesline that we put up too!  In the evening, another childbirth class.  Every class gets so much better and it's really nice to see how it isn't about me, but what the hubby will be doing and helping with during it all.  

  That pretty much is the weekend we had.  We were busy from the beginning to the end and the entire time I was just in bliss. 

Hope y'all had a good weekend too and hopefully this week will be a great one!

Friday Tips to go Green

• Recycle your furniture. When it's time to hunt for a new couch or bed, either donate it or even toss it on Craigslist. Who says that old mattress can go to a dumpster? Call your local bed retailers and see if they have a recycling program. There are programs out there that reuse the frame and even the springs.
• Carpool! The hubby and I don't work in the same town, but I pass his office on my way to my office. So why can't we just commute? Starting next week we are. If you and a friend go along the same path, why not see if you can carpool at least one day a week and split the cost of gas.
• Watch what you print. Did you really need every copy of every thing you buy online? No. Create a folder in your email just for online receipts. Hotels don't need the receipt and besides, this way you won't lose it.
• Cut down on Magazines. In 2009, we had 10 DIFFERENT subscriptions to random magazines. We got everything from Golf to Gardening. Now we have three and our goal for 2011 is to only have one. The hubby can't live without his Money Magazine.
• Reusable bags: they are hip and cool and you should be using them by now. I can't even begin to tell you how many we have. We always make an effort to leave at least 3 bags in the cars just in case we forget to grab them on our way out of the house. Not only most stores now give you break (usually 5 cents off your purchase per bag or other incentives) but it helps bring down the clutter of bags in landfills.

Seventh Generation Giveaway

Thanks to the good people at Seventh Generation, they offered my readers a chance to win a set of products!



Shown here (Disinfecting Multi-Surface, Disinfecting Bathroom, All Purpose Cleaner, Natural Paper Towels, Seventh Gen Recycled Bag, Disinfecting Wipes, Diapers (Size 1 8-14lb), Baby Wipes Tub and Baby Wipes Refill, Baby Laundry Detergent)

There are multiple ways to enter:

• Leave a comment about which product you'd like to try
• Sign up on their website and leave a comment with your profile link
• Post this giveaway on your website and comment back here with link
• Tweet about this Giveaway on twitter: Enter the Seventh Generation Product Giveaway @lilmissplanner: http://tiny.cc/wtvyg (copy and paste to get credit for it) and comment back
• Post this giveaway in a forum and comment back here with a link

Yes, you can get up to 5 entries for this giveaway! Best of luck to all of you!

The giveaway closes on April 30, 2010 at 5pm PST. Winner will be announced May 3, 2010!

Wednesday Ramblings...

• I up and did it. I signed up for my first Half Marathon post KLM's birth! It's on November 6. I even created a brand new google calendar just for the training aspect of it. Says I start training August 15! I'm already shaking just thinking about it. What did I get myself into!!!


• Another Wednesday, another appt. Makes the week go so much faster.


• Looking forward to the weekend already. Okay, I was looking forward to it last Sunday night.


• Had another peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast. Needed the protein. :)


• Attempting to do Yoga and Pilates today. Did I mention I had Yoga last night too? I am going to be S O R E tomorrow.


• Weather is well, gloomy and rainy again. This winter/spring has been weird.


• Wasn't Glee awesome?


• Starting to get next month's project in place. Kinda overwhelmed by it.


• Side Patio is on hiatus. I upped my budget yet again for patio furniture. I can not WAIT for this to be done.


• I think today is going to be Whole Foods Lunch day. YUMMM!!!!

Seventh Generation Product Review

A few weeks ago, I contacted Seventh Generation because I wanted to learn more about their products for the house and for our upcoming bundle of joy. They were very kind to let me test out a plethora of products from cleaning supplies to diaper supplies. I was really excited about this because I loved their eco-friendly philosophy. This is a company that is trying to not only create natural and good products but also teach us how to make this world a better place. Now onto the review:


Cleaning Supplies (Disinfecting Multi-Surface, Disinfecting Bathroom, Disinfecting Wipes, All Purpose): I really loved all of them! Not always a big fan of disinfecting wipes because I feel like I waste them fast but they came out really handy when I cooked and got some raw meat on the counter top. I decided to hand over the Bathroom cleaner and All Purpose Cleaner to the hubby so he can tidy up before company came over. He loved the smells and it cleaned the surfaces just as great as products like Fantastik. Same goes for the Multi-Surface cleaner. This is my go-to cleaner when I'm cleaning my kitchen counters!

Baby Products (Diapers, baby wipes, and detergent): We finally did our first load of mini clothes with the detergent! The colors stayed strong and no complaints at all. Because KLM is still baking away in my belly, I gave some diapers to one of friends to test out on her daughter. She was using Pampers before and was a bit leery of changing it up with her newborn. After two days, she sent her husband out to buy these she loved them so much! As far as the wipes, she said they did their job and didn't notice a difference and because of that, she's be changing to these as well since they don't have chlorine in them. All in all, she dubbed it a success and would recommend them!

As far as the Paper towels, well, I'm keeping my word on not using any this month so they are sitting there but I think these will come in handy when KLM is born. We'll be keeping them in her room to help with random things. You just never know when you'll need them and well, they are 100% recycled so I don't feel bad when I use them and toss them in the recycle bin. :)

We've used other natural products before but I have to say Seventh Generation really blew the other ones out of the water! Thanks again 7thG for the opportunity to test them out!

Stay tuned on how you can get a chance to get these products too!!!

Seventh Generation provided the product for this review. Little Miss Planner did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

My Ladybug Shower

This past weekend I was lucky enough to have a shower in my hometown thrown by my amazing Mom! She choose a ladybug shower and did an amazing job with a favor table, lots of great food, yummy ladybug cake and well, fabulous guests. I was so happy to spend some time with one of my oldest friends, talk to a soon to be grandma and hear her excitement about the new addition, family friends and lots of family! We played some really fun games like Price is Right and guess the sex with old wives tales and baby bingo while I opened up presents. And the presents, well, KLM is going to be decked out in the cutest little clothes on earth and not to mention the new blankets that were made just for her.
It was just wonderful, from start to finish! I think the hubby particularly like the little driving toy she got. :) So while I'm trying to wrestle up some photos of the day from my family, here is a shot of a super-cute centerpiece!



It was a wonderful way to share our joy of KLM's birth with everyone and see how excited others are for her to come into our lives!

Happy Sunday!

I couldn't think of a better way to start off the last day of the weekend thank listen to one of my FAVE Madonna songs over and over...sang by the castmembers of GLEE!!!!!



Enjoy you Sunday!

CSN Stores - Review Boikido Blocks

A few weeks ago I posted how the lovely people at CSN gave me an opportunity to check out their services. About five days after I posted, I received a well packaged box on our doorstep. It was our eco-friendly toys!!!! We opted to get the Boikido Blocks. We opened up the box and it was like we were little 4 year olds on Christmas. The hubby and I sat down and started to play with the blocks right away. You know, to test them for KLM. :)







Even came with a bag so made clean up easy!



All in all, it was great! Would I recommend them? Yes. Prices are great and the quality of product is superb!

CSN Stores provided the product for this review. Little Miss Planner did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Friday Tips to go Green

• Reroute your day. Before you head out the door for the day, make your list of errands and try to figure out how to shorten your commute from Point A to B and only make one trip out instead of 5. Stop wasting coming and going from your house.


• Add some super-plants to your house! Some plants help remove indoor air pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene, things we never thought we'd have in our home. Some include: English ivy and peace lilies are great toxin fighters.


• Want to save some money and don't want to clip coupons? Try using programs like Cellfire and Shortcuts and lots coupons onto your club card. You'll save money and paper!


• Unplug appliances. Even when they are off, appliance can pull energy when plugged in. Even I'm guilty of keeping things plugged in. In areas like the kitchen though, do you really need that toaster always plugged in? No.



• Start a compost pile. You live in a apartment? No problem. Nowadays there are these great countertop compost bins. When it gets full, find a local community garden and donate your compost to their pile.
  
  The one shown to your right is the Odor-Free Countertop Compost Keeper selling on Amazon.com for $23.31. Buy one more item and get free shipping! Saves you a trip to the store!

Project 12 - April update #2

Let's see how we are doing at the LMP household:

• Spend the month without using paper towels. Doing good since last week!


• Set up a clothesline outside and use it 4 times DONE!


• Set up BBQ and start cooking outside 4 times this month. It's set up but still haven't cooked with it. Weather has been fickle.


• Instead of the gym, go take a walk at night Currently doing!


• Turn off the thermostat Done!

How are you doing ?

Wednesday Ramblings...

• The hubby is now making spinach smoothies (green machines) for breakfast. I scarfed mine down with a peanut butter and banana sandwich. No, this isn't some weird pregnancy thing. I would eat this regardless of some soccer player kicking around my ribs.


• GLEE GLEE GLEE GLEE! Do I need so say more?


• Just a few more days till I get to go to my hometown for our first baby shower! I feel like I haven't been home in ages and wish we could go back more but the last two years hasn't really afforded us the time.


• The weather is finally nice enough to wear a dress. I feel very springy with my turquoise cardigan on top of my heather grey dress.


• Pilates tonight. I got the okay to move up a class but think I'll just do the intro class tonight.


• Wish today was Friday. Friday means I don't have to worry about cooking and well, I didn't get the meat ready for dinner so hoping the hubby will take care of dinner tonight.


• I have about 5 posts I'm working on. Not sure which ones to post first.


• Work has been crazy lately. Getting kinda burnt out. I'm starting to finally countdown to my KLM vacation! :)


• Wednesday is my favorite day of the work week (excluding Fridays) only because of one thing. Travel special emails. That's the pro, the con is I can't go anywhere right now... but will be booking a trip in the next few months!


• Speaking of things I can't do now, I miss wine. Went out to dinner with my in-laws last Saturday and they opened up this AMAZING bottle of wine that if I could have, I would have stolen the entire bottle and guzzled it. Just 10 more weeks right?! HURRY UP JUNE, this soon to be momma misses her vino!