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A whine about wine

Posted on August 1, 2010 10:21 am by TheAngelForever

Confession time: Yesterday, I bought my first bottle of wine to consume at home for us and not a celebration like Passover (where I always drink grape juice with the kids).

Some people may be shocked with this considering I am 30-something. It’s not that I will not drink beverages with alcohol, it’s more or less that I have never found anything that I like enough. A lot are too strong, too sweet, too dry or something else. There is also the money factor. As a foodie, I would much rather spend my moolah on something food related than empty calories that I drink. You see, the boys do not like carbonated beverges. Thanks to this, we pretty much only have water and some vegetable juice options in the house.

The other night, I mentioned that I wished I had something in the house to drink. I wanted something to help me relax, but had nada. My friend Danny is the wine guru. She suggested that I try a peach wine. Hmmm…..I LOVE peach everything. This really intrigued me since I have fond memories of trips to Canada where I ordered Peach & Tea drinks (ice tea with peach schnapps – YUM!).

I shocked TechyDad yesterday and told him I was heading into a local wine store to look for a peach wine. I asked them for the one my friend mentioned, but they did not have it (it was called Sweet Vines and from California). They took me to an area that had New York wines, including a peach variety. This is what they had:

It is a peach wine from Glenora in the Finger Lakes region of New York (always nice to support the home state). I figured I would give it a shot and bought it. After I paid for it and was putting it under the stroller, I stood up and lost my balance. As I did this, I crashed my nose into the hard pastic on the stroller – ugh!

Last night, when the kids went to bed, TechyDad and I had our peach wine in classy clear plastic cups. (The wine was not kosher – GRRRR.) We sat on the couch drinking it while watching Hot in Cleveland. All I can say is that it was delicious. It was not too sweet, had a great peach flavor and did not sting when it went down like wines often do to me. We will definitely buy this again and may try some of the other varieties.

If you have any other wine suggestions, I would love to know. It’s not like I am going to drink often, but variety would be nice.

Thank you to my friend Danny for the suggestion – you rock!

P.S. Be sure to enter my two current giveaway for Breyer’s Smooth & Dreamy (4 winners) and for the book Potty Animals (5 winners). Oh and TechyDad is also having a $25 gift certificate giveaway for ABC Neckties!

Categories:
jl looking back me moments photos shopping TechyDad weekend yummy

School Supply List 2010

Posted on July 1, 2010 2:54 pm by TheAngelForever

Every year, parents of school aged children brace themselves for the great school supply list. Last year, I wrote about my son’s first grade list and asked other people what was on their list. One week ago, NHL came home from school after his last half day. Inside his backpack were several items. In addition to his report card, the manila envelope contained the name of a teacher that NHL likely will have for second grade. What does that mean you ask? The exact words on the paper "Your child has been tentatively assigned to ___________ for the 2010-2011 school year. Please be aware the assigned classroom is subject to change." Not too sure what that means since there was NOT anything like that last year. Also tucked into the papers was the 2nd grade school supplies. I guess we shall see.

As far as the school supply list goes, it seems pretty reasonable. Here are the items:

pencils – 20 plain yellow wooden pencils
eraser – large pink
scissors
6 LARGE glue sticks
plastic pencil box (2 1/2 x 5 x 8 inches)
one box of 24 crayons – no larger!
a red pen – for correcting
2 marble composition notebooks
1 plastic pocket folder, labeled with your child’s name
a book bad (no wheels please; they are unsafe on the stairs)
1 LARGE box of tissues to be shared in the classroom
1 LARGE package of baby wipes (to clean desks and hands)

I do have some of the items at home already thanks to great sales last year and teaching supplies that I still have on hand. We will keep an eye out for the back to school sales, which will begin next week (typically after July 4th). I am intrigued with the correcting pen. I really like that they will be editing their own work and hope this will address my concern with inventive spelling.

Another item in NHL’s backpack was the pencil box from first grade. Here are the items that I found when I opened it up:

The pencils and crayon bits are now tossed, but the box is still in pretty good shape. I still have to see if the glue sticks are dried out or can be used for summer projects.

My next thought is whether or not we will need to get anything for JSL. *gasp*. . . my baby starts nursery school in September. Of course, right now the biggest item on my supply list for him is to get underpants on him. The two of us are still working on the power struggle that is potty training. At just three years old, I do not want to push him too much, but I KNOW he is ready. Oh well, that is a story for another day.

If you have school aged children, what is on your list this year?

As a parent and former teacher, I am always curious to see what the lists look like at different grade levels.

Categories:
decisions nhl photos school shopping

Caved into Character Bandz Craze

Posted on June 25, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Flash backs of my childhood and the jelly bracelet craze came flying back recently thanks to Silly Bandz. Kids all around are begging parents to take them from store to store looking for these rubber bands that are shaped like butterflies, basketballs, elephants and more. As the mother of a son almost done with first grade, I was curious if he knew about them.

Yes, NHL had seen Silly Bandz on classmates and knew that his cousins had them at JSL’s birthday party. That was pretty much all he knew and cared about. I was relieved that I would not have to be one of those parents that went on a wild goose chase to find these greatly sought after items. This was the case until Friday.

Last Friday, after school, I took the boys to the store to get a few items. As we were finishing up our shopping, we ended up in a section that had all things for Toys Story 3. Suddenly, I was face-to-face with packages of Character Bandz. Yes, Disney has signed up with a company to made these bracelets in shapes from Toy Story 3, Cars, Disney Princesses and of course Mickey Mouse.

To buy to not to buy?

I sent out a few Tweets to see what to do. The boys were curious about them and I was not sure if we should buy them. There were three different sets of Toy Story 3. I must admit, I had no clue how many were in the package. In the end, the boys wanted something else that was much more expensive. I turned their attention to the Character Bandz. This is what we bought and took home to open:

When we opened them up, we found the five designs: Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, and Rocket Ship. The package showed that there were four colors. Much to my relief, there was one of each color for the five designs. So for $4.00 we received 20 of the bracelets. I set them into piles and had the boys take turns selecting two from each of the characters.

Thank goodness, there were no real fights. They were both so happy to have them and put them on. Here are the boys modeling their Toy Story 3 Character Bandz.

What has been funny to me is that JSL is more interested in them. NHL wears them for a little while and then wants to put them away. To make sure they are not lost we have snack bags marked with their names. If they come off their wrist, they must go into the bag. So far so good. The best part, the boys are not begging for more. They seem content with these. Of course, they have not seen the other Disney character options yet either. I guess we shall see what happens if/when we ever see them.

So my questions this week:

1. What fad do you remember from your childhood?

2. Do you have any Silly/Character Bandz in your house? (Adults and not only kids are into them it seems)

Always curious to see what others have seen/heard by them during this latest craze.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #105

Categories:
Aloha Friday brothers Disney jsl nhl photos shopping

Free ice cream & Happy B-day Nana

Posted on June 5, 2010 9:50 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL & JSL,

Today, we had a very busy day. We started off going to get both of you new shoes for the wedding that we are going to. Of course, they did not have the right size in stock for NHL. Thanks to this, we went to the mall where another store was holding a pair for us. After we picked them up, tried them on and paid for them we decided to wander around for a little while. As we were walking, I remembered that Friendly’s was having free ice cream today from 12-5. I asked Daddy if he wanted to do it and he said yes. Since it was only 12:30, there was hardly a line and we got our ice cream fast. The two of you were very surprised with the treat and enjoyed it.

NHL, you decided that you wanted strawberry ice cream in a cone. JSL, you wanted chocolate, but we opted to do it in a cup to make it easier. Daddy had Apple Pie a La Mode, and I went for my usual Cookie Dough. We all enjoyed it and then went to several more stores and had a quick lunch.

After the mall, we went to BJ’s to get a few things for the house and for the picnic for NHL’s class. By the time we were finished, everyone was really tired. We went home for a little while and then met Nana, Papa and Mimi at the diner for Nana’s birthday dinner. Things were a bit shaky at times since everyone was cranky, but we made it through.

We went back to Nana and Papa’s house to play for a while and celebrate Nana’s birthday with a little cheesecake. It was fun watching JSL playing dominoes with Mimi. Before we knew it, the sky was getting dark and it was time to go home. We had a busy day and hope to be able to run around and have some fun around the house or at the park tomrorow.

Love,

Mommy

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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

Categories:
birthday Dear Kid Saturday family jl jsl nhl photos shopping weekend yummy

Shoe shopping woes

Posted on June 4, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Let me start by saying that I am not the kind of girl that likes to go clothing or shoe shopping. If I find something that fits and I like it, I will buy several of the item to last and call it a day. On Sunday, I went out to look for a dress to wear to a family wedding coming up soon. Nothing that I had worked for a number of reasons, so shopping was a necessity. My mother and father took me to look in places that they had seen dresses. After no luck at Kohls (no dressy items at all), we went to JC Penney. My mother had bought her outfit for the wedding there and knew that they had a good plus sized department.

We got to the department and there was a lot to browse though. Of course, any two piece items were automatically out. My top and bottom are much different in size. I could technically go to the non-plus size for pants and skirts, but not tops. *sigh* There was a large display of summer dresses without sleeves. I was ready to dismiss them when my mother talked me into trying them on. She reminded me that I could always something to put over my arms if I wanted it.

The first dress I tried on left me without words. It fit, almost too well. The length was perfect, the sides were high enough to cover my bra and the girls were in place nicely. My mother asked why I never wore sleeveless items. I think this reminded me why. Most items are not made to fit like a dress and show off too much bra or even more that should not be seen. I kept trying more dresses on and fell in love with another dress. My mind immediately went to the cocktail parties at BlogHer this summer. I walked out of JC Penney with two new dresses at 50%. A quick call to TechyDad made me realize I was lucky not to be home.

Now the hunt is on. I need a pair of shoes to match my dresses. If at all possible, I would like silver wedges so they can be worn with both. Thursday, I spent the day on a shoe hunt. Talk about frustrating! Thanks to a high instep, cute shoes are hard to find that fit. Shoe after shoe did not work. I really liked a pair of silver wedges at Macy’s, but after 3 minutes the leather left a nasty looking rub mark on my foot.

Looking online is great, but I really need to try something on. Not sure I have enough time to order something in case it doesn’t fit. I did find a great looking pair of shoes called Cupcake from the YOU line by Crocs. Before you roll your eyes, check them out here:

So my question to you this week:

Do you like to go shopping for dressy clothing and shoes and why do you feel this way? If you are a shoe expert, any suggestions on where to hunt would be greatly appreciated.

Update: About 30 minutes after I typed this on Thursday evening, I was talking to my mother on the phone. She was near another shoe store and asked me to meet her there. Thank you Super Shoes! I found several pairs of shoes that fit, were cute and worked with my dresses. Not the best photo from my cell phone, but it will do for now (modeling shots were on Twitter last night).

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.