Cheers

When daylight savings arrives it reminds me of summer days ahead…warm days, bright sunshine and convening with friends and neighbors in the late afternoon to enjoy a cocktail while the kids play. This year I am in the mood to experiment with new cocktail recipes so I have been doing research on refreshing spring cocktail recipes I wanted to share with you today.

You’re welcome.

5-spring-cocktail-recipes

1. The Skinny Mojito

I love a mojito on warm days. There’s something about the crisp, sweet mint that instantly reminds me of summer and makes me wish I had a front porch with a swing to sit on and sip…

Tiny Travels: Top 5 Spring Getaways with the Kids

 

Welcome Spring! With Spring Break and summer vacation planning on the horizon I asked my dear friend and luxury travel writer, Jolie Loeb to give me a list of her top 5 travel destinations with kids.  Jolie is a mama of two girls, so she knows all about traveling with children, well. Very well. Here are her top spring getaways with kids…

top spring getaways with kids

TOP SPRING GETAWAYS WITH KIDS!

by Jolie Loeb

Alright friends – straight up – none of these are bargains.  Some of them could qualify as How To’s on breaking the bank.  But if you want to travel with the kids, and you want to go big before you go home, here are some high-end recs for local (and/or local adjacent, and/or like all the way across the country) globetrotting with your tots in tow.  Earmark these for summer too, or just bucket list ‘em.  They’ll quench your wanderlust and likely ignite the same in your kin.  Obsessions kick in earlier than they used to.  May as well plant one you can get on board with……

Local Love: Free Estate Planning Seminar

oc-estate-planning-seminar

[Sponsor]

Years back when I first had children, I would have seen a flyer for a family estate planning seminar and thought, “I don’t need that – I don’t have anything close to what would be considered an ‘estate’!” When I think of the word ‘estate’ I envision a multi-million dollar mansion. But that’s not true! We all have estates, no matter how big or how small.

An estate is considered any money or property you own. If something were to happen to you, I am sure you have opinions on who you would like that to go to, right?

For parents, a family estate plan includes more than just making sure your money and property is protected, it makes sure your most INvaluable things in life are protected, your children. You better believe I have opinions on who I would want my children raised by and living with if something were to happen to me!!

Cinderella Review

I was invited to take my family to a magical IMAX screening last weekend of Disney’s Cinderella 2015 coming to theaters March 13th.

Event images right of movie poster in collage below by Maribel Farina Photography

Cinderella Movie 2015

Cinderella, the classic Disney fairy tale we grew up with is coming to theaters this Friday in a new production unlike any Cinderella you have seen before.

We had the pleasure of viewing Cinderella The IMAX Experience in which the picture and imagery was so visually appealing it felt like the sparkles from The Fairy Godmother’s magic wand might actually jump off the screen and sprinkle the audience!

The movie, directed by Kenneth Branagh, stays true to the original movie, with few changes.

A young girl, Ella (Lily James) loses her mother as a girl and years later her father remarries a widow. Sweet Ella, in a promise she made to her dying mother to “have courage and be kind,” is ready to welcome her new stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and stepsisters (Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera) into their home with open arms and an open heart….

On Happiness in Motherhood

This post is a personal one on happiness in motherhood and how to be a happier mom and it starts with this…

happiness

The other day I was cleaning out the dresser next to my bed and found a folded letter written on lined paper. My husband and I must have been in an argument and I took pen to paper to get all my feelings out.  I wrote it on 10-28-2008 and must not have ever given it to him (if you are reading this Stefan, you’re welcome.)

At the time I wrote this letter, I had a 2-year-old toddler and a high maintenance one at that (bless her).

Looking at the date, I must have been very hormonal because I didn’t know it yet, but I would find out I was pregnant with her baby sister 3 days later on Halloween. If I thought life was hard on THAT day, mama didn’t know what was in store with two children!

It brought back so many memories of that time in my life when I was exhausted, unbalanced and stretched to my limits between staying home with my toddler and trying to run this blog on my own. Those years for me were completely joyous and magical, but also SO FREAKING HARD.  I was not very happy. Not like I am today.

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote to my husband: