This year, Scott and I celebrated an extraordinary milestone - a decade of marriage and an incredible two decades as a couple. Our journey began on March 10, 2003, when we embarked on this romantic adventure together. On May 26, 2013, when we got married, and now again on August 8, 2023 when we renewed our vows. What's truly unique is that we don't just have one memorable wedding date, but two. Our double-date story is a constant source of laughter because, believe it or not, it all came down to a mix-up with the wedding license. At the time, we were residents of New Jersey, but we had our hearts set on tying the knot in Pennsylvania. However, in a humorous twist of fate, Scott overlooked the crucial detail that you needed the marriage license from the state where you were getting married, not your place of residence. This charming mix-up has given us with two special dates to cherish!

This past weekend my husband installed our new Express Water Filter, which uses reverse osmosis to purify our drinking water.  (*This product was gifted. All reviews are my own.)  Let's face it, we parents are always juggling multiple responsibilities. That's why I appreciate the simplicity of the Express Water Filter's installation process. No need to hire professionals or spend hours figuring out complicated instructions!  With its user-friendly design, even busy moms and dads like us can confidently set it up.

Today my new notebook that I started using is actually a super neat find! It is by the company Designs by Planner Perfect and it is a wallet/notebook. It actually comes with a crossbody to wear it like a purse but I decided to take that off and attach a wristlet. It’s a bit of a splurge be the quality is phenomenal and I wanted something that I would have with me at all times because I don’t always carry a purse.

I think the hardest part about moving is not knowing anyone and making new friends. My kids never have a problem making friends. We go to a playground or a park and they immediately find someone to play with or run up and introduce themselves. I think it is definitely more difficult for adults, especially with precautions around Covid. We are lucky to have found a community with families for the girls to play with and everyone has been very welcoming.

A fun fact you may not know about my family, particularly my husband is that he loves 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil. If we are at an event or a store and they have samples, I know that he will try them all. That is why I was so excited to participate in the Flavor Your Life campaign. Its goal is to educate about authenticity, the history and the properties that make up 100% extra virgin olive oil from Europe.

The Ultimate Black Friday Shopping Guide featuring deals for all. Some links are affiliate while others are not. Happy Shopping!

The #nsale is here and while I know a lot of influencers aren’t sharing it this year because they aren’t getting the same commission or perks as in the past, I never got any of those extra perks so why not share? I do earn a very small amount if you use my affiliate links and I appreciate it.

Do you ever have those days where you go to bed and your mind is racing. You have a million things you need to do the next day and you keep adding to the list only to forget it all in the morning. I was in a Clubhouse room the other day and a mama in there suggested keeping a notebook/journal on your nightstand and writing everything down. Basically the goal is to do a “brain dump” of all your thoughts so that you can relax your mind and eventually fall asleep.

Have you ever been to an event or made a new friend and needed to exchange contact information? I know that pre-covid I would take my kids to the playground, ninja, gymnastics and music classes and they would make friends and the parents would exchange numbers. When the weather was warmer in the Fall, we actually met some new friends in our neighborhood that were also social distancing and quarantining. They joined our pod but I remember giving the mom my phone number and gave me hers by sending me a text with her name.

This year the Moms Meet WOW Summit 2021 is virtual. It is going to be 3-days of educational workshops, networking and the opportunity to listen to some really great speakers. It is an event to empower moms to raise happy and healthy families and is not solely for bloggers and content creators. Any mom or grandma can attend following the Community Track. If you are a blogger/influencer you may be more interested in the Blogger + Influencer Track.

This year skiing is looking a little different. The weather in New Jersey has just been all over the place. Some days it is cold, other days it is warm but windy. On some of the warmer days I don’t think it would be possible for the mountains to make snow. Luckily we did have a few days where it was cold enough that they could make snow.

I’ve taken the love language quiz before but I decided to take it 2 more times and see how my results compared. I figured why not with Valentine’s Day right around the corner. My love language is primarily made up of Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, and Words of Affirmation. Typically when you take this test you are one category, but to be honest, I took the test twice and my results were different so I think it also depends on your mood and mindset that day.

One of my goals for 2021 is to get organized. We have been decluttering and going through the kids toys and trying to figure out the best way to keep things organized. My kids tend to like to take out six toys at once and then wonder why the playroom is a mess and it takes forever to clean up. I’ve decided to adopt the Montessori work rug method and see how that plays out for 2021. I don’t follow any other Montessori methods, but I am interested to see if this will work for my girls and lessen the number of times we have to clean the playroom.

A few weeks ago on Instagram I shared that I officially “graduated” from pelvic floor therapy. PT for your pelvic floor or PT in general is nothing to be ashamed of at all. Pelvic floor trauma can occur from a number of reasons, weight, pregnancy, birth, postpartum…etc… What I recommend if you are having any sort of issue is to see a Urogynocologist and ask for a script to get a pelvic floor MRI. I would also find a urogyn that performs standing evaluations. Not many are trained to do this or offer it and your pelvic floor is very different when you stand versus when you are laying down. Gravity does have an effect on it.

My husband keeps joking that he’s going to delete Pinterest off of my iPhone. We are on our 3rd or 4th Pinterest project. This time I sent him a photo. He didn’t have any specs for the project. He built it based solely on this photo. This was just our inspiration as we decided against any fencing around the bed. In the future we may build a platform to put underneath it to raise it off the ground a little but for now we like it as a floor bed.

This year back in August I had the great idea to pick up two Ikea dollhouses for the girls that I would makeover for Christmas. I wasn’t really thinking about where we would put them or the amount of time it would take to personalize two, but I with the help of my husband they turned out perfect. It will be fun to continue to update them for the different holidays

Every year we try to get family photos taken and use them for holiday cards. I actually couldn’t pick just one design so I ordered 2, one “holiday” and one "Christmas.” After mailing them out I saw someone share that their photographer took photos and basically turned their kids into cookies on a tray making snow angels in flour. I thought that was super cute and was determined to figure out how I could do it myself.