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Breathe. Exhale. Repeat.
Mindful breathing is convenient and practical. It brings you back to the present and helps you see the big picture. I know there are days that I find myself feeling overwhelmed, defeated, and loosing sight of what really matters. Focused, mindful breathing helps reduce stress and anxiety; it alters your mental state and balances your emotions (fear, anger, sadness, joy). It decreases hyperactivity in the brain. It provides you with a deeper opportunity to center the mind and allows you to concentrate on the tasks at hand; bringing you to a place of balance and reason. It improves your own sense of well being by bringing a state of calmness.…
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Surf’s Up!
Surfs up! I’m a big fan of wearing boardshorts when I’m taking my kids to the beach or the pool. They’re fun, comfortable, waterproof (I wear them right in the water)…and they keep you covered as you’re running after your little ones, or racing over to stop them from doing something dangerous (that’s me!) And as a mom, I still feel a little bit cool wearing them. Boardshorts, I’d like you to meet Tara After I had my third baby, one of the million things that dawned on me was this: I was going to be bringing three small children to the town swimming park, by myself…yikes! I knew I…
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What’s All The Buzz All About?
It’s that time of year again. The weather is warmer, you’re outside so much more, and many of your evening activities are starting to be outdoors as well. Those bugs are going to be coming atcha full force and your want to be sure to protect yourself and your skin. There’s so many different types of bug sprays out there, and it can be overwhelming and expensive to try and figure out which ones are going to work the best. Throughout the years I think I’ve tried just about all of them. It got a little tricky when my kids were babies because there’s so many ingredients out there that…
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Water Does A Body Good
Staying well hydrated is one of the best things you can do for your body! And it’s basically free! How It All Started For Me Having a glass of water used to be the last thing on my list. I just wasn’t a fan. I mean, it was tasteless and boring to me. I actually started drinking more water when I was pregnant – not because I craved it, but because it was good for the baby and overall pregnancy. Then after my babies were born, I nursed, and again drank a ton of water – not because I wanted to, but to help keep my milk supply up. Once…
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Snake and Snails
Tate is turning F I V E !! Time to party! As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m a big fan of having home birthday parties. It’s how I grew up, and I loved creating all those memories right in my own house. I now like to try and do that for my own kids. I know space can be an issue at times, but you can get creative and move some furniture around…and if you’re lucky the weather might cooperate and you can be outside! (Yay! This happened for Tate’s party, thanks Mother Nature!) So, for all our kids, we try to do a bigger party for the…
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Kindness Really Does Rock
I can’t think of a better creative project to do with kids that has such a positive and inspiring message! I first learned about kindness rocks about two years ago from my neighbor who was visiting Cape Cod over the summer. He and his family had found some beautifully painted rocks on a beach in Truro, MA, and were so moved by the encouraging message written on them. It turns out these rocks have been making the rounds across Cape Cod for a little while now. They are part of The Kindness Rocks Project – which believes “one message at just the right time can change your entire day, outlook, life…” There’s…
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Apples To Oranges
It’s so hard not to compare yourself to others. It’s something we just do, and usually too often. Think back to when you were little, we did it then too – maybe feeling down because we didn’t have something new and cool someone else had. As we became adults, those same insecurities and inadequate feelings are still alive and kickin’ in our daily lives. Whether it be at work, as a business owner, at home, as a parent, as a mother, as a friend…we all find ourselves comparing from time to time. So why do we do it? Sometimes I feel it’s instinctual – to constantly want more and the best…
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Three Bros Sharing A Room
As I mentioned in a previous post, we live in a very sweet cape style house. When we found out we were having a third boy, we smiled. So many cool things came to mind. All the fun times and adventures ahead. In the waaaaaay back of our minds we also thought about how they can easily share a bedroom at some point. We have 3 bedrooms upstairs; one for us, one for the boys, and one we use as a playroom. When space is at a premium in your home, you make things work with what you have. So once the baby was out of his crib (which was in…
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It’s Time We Had A Little Chat About The Bees And The Bees
Our home is an adorable 1950’s cape style house with so much character. When we first moved in, it totally needed work. We cosmetically touched up every room, but we took it up a notch with first floor bathroom – it needed a much bigger facelift. We kept the original black and white tile on the floor, but pretty much redid every else. We added new fixtures, beadboard and painted the walls a taupe color. I chose taupe because it was safe for me and I felt it complimented many other colors. Years went by and I grew tired of the wall color, as we all do. Then I became obsessed…
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“The only truth is music” – Jack Kerouac
Okay, so, plain and simple – I just really appreciate and enjoy all types of music! I feel there’s no common denominator between all the songs I like, except that they all happen to have a beat. For me, music triggers a mood, a feeling or a memory. It can be calming and therapeutic. It can be super motivating as well – it motivates me when I’m instructing a class, running; even when I’m just cleaning the house or driving my kids around. Here is just a very small fraction of some of my favorite songs, just to give you an example of my extremely random range of music taste.…