Working out...anywhere?!

Make Yourself
You are in charge
It is entirely up to you
Make your body
Make your life
Make yourself

You are juggling a child, or two (or even more?!) and getting to the gym or taking a class just might not be possible. Anxious to get back in shape and feel good I went searching for options to get a great workout in just about anywhere. Mission accomplished in finding the Nike Training app on my ipad. Yesterday my son, Skyler and I had a great workout in the apartment while the little one was napping. This particular workout was fine with a yoga mat and light weights. It was a lot of fun too. They show you demos of the exercises and time the increments for you. You can choose your fitness goals and design a workout to accomplish the results you are looking for. Interruptions are no problem and you can pause at at any time and continue later. You can add your own music or choose from all different genres of music. I think you can also document results too. Keep you posted as to what I find. It really is a great solution to get your butt in gear and was fantastic. Can't wait to check it out today. Really no excuse to get a workout in...any time of day. Now you just need the energy...

New Exhibits at the Please Touch Museum

On Sunday we took part in the Please Touch Museum's 2nd Annual - Stroller in the Park Event. We had such a great time. This is our second year getting involved and have enjoyed it so much. Last year we even came in 1st Place! This year there were visits by Elmo and the Philly Fanatic and great sponsors from Whole Foods, Odwalla and Foose. One of our favorite parts of the day was after the race when we had access to the Museum before opening to the public. If only for this - the whole experience would be worthwhile (although the walk is a lot of fun too!) What a great way to enjoy and instill exercise. We had the opportunity to enjoy and check out all the new exhibits that recently opened. A new favorite is the room with the obstacle course with climbing wall, monkey bars, balance beam etc. We also really enjoyed the Rainforest Rhythm experience where children can play music on nature-inspired instruments and explore music from around the world.

Bye bye puffy eyes...

To say this week has been exhausting is an understatement. Liam, my three month old has been eating every two to three hrs at night. I am pretty sure I need to start introducing a little formula in the evenings to fill him up. The past two nights I have filled the bottle to give it a shot, but I have hesitated putting the bottle into the fridge as if I am going to use it later. Why do I hesitate?! I allowed Skyler to have formula and look how great he turned out. It is not as though I have never given him formula...just not often. Since when do I have this type A personality that I need to be in control?! Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Anyway - back to the topic at point. I'm exhausted...trying to do my hair to mask the tired appearance. A little makeup helps too. But the new Clinique all about eyes serum I recently was introduced to puts a smile on my face. The cool application of the roll on applicator gives me the confidence I need to make it out the door - ready to tackle another day.

They have samples at Sephora...I definitely recommend checking it out

Your PERFECT day?!

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the things that make me and others around me content, happy and fullfilled.

What would be your perfect day?

Here's what I am coming up with at the moment:

7 hrs of sleep
Wake to a cup of hot water with lemon - very detoxifying
2 cups of coffee - no more, no less
A little time with my husband before the kids wake up
Blog
yoga, pilates or lithe in some form during the day
Get Skyler off to School
Alone time with Liam - activity/volunteer
Meetings developing great programs for the kids
Lunch with a friend (or business lunch)
Long walk to pick up Skyler
Playtime at the park or Rittenhouse
Unwind and create dinner
Play with Daddy
Eat dinner
Bath, Book and Bed - kids
Stay awake long enough to spend some time with hubby and unwind with a glass of wine

Have the intention to make each day "your" perfect day. When you know what makes your day ideal - you have a vision of what you want to accomplish!

Laundry tips for baby clothes

We love spending money on our children. Especially on all those adorable clothing collections. In an effort to maximize longevity and make sure your designer duds look their best here are our tips on laundry care for the little ones:

•For protein stains like formula, breast milk and diaper stains, soak the garment in cold water and then apply an enzyme-based cleaner or pretreatment cleaner directly to the stain. Give the cleaner a chance to attack the stain before washing the garment. Never soak a garment in hot water because it will only set the stain.

I always suggest natural cleaners that are safe for the environment and our families. Whatever you use be sure to use care and if necessary keep out of reach of children.

•If the stain persists, you can try an all-purpose stain remover. Rub gently and rinse. With diaper stains, try placing the garment outside in the sun. It works as natural bleach.

•For oily stains from baby products, such as lotions, baby oils and petroleum jelly, your first course of action should be to absorb some of the oil with cornstarch. Let the cornstarch set for 30 minutes. Then scrape it off and treat the fabric with a pre-treat solvent. A frugal alternative is to apply dish liquid to the stain and soak. Rinse with vinegar. Then launder as usual.

I experienced this one first hand when my three year old painted his room with butt paste. Dawn dish soap and some natural melaleuca dish soap worked great.

•For fruit and vegetable stains, soak in cold water. Blot as much of the stain as possible. Hydrogen peroxide or vinegar can help remove these stains, too. Apply a pre-treat solvent and launder as usual.

Additional note: when it comes to crayon and other tough stains on fabric and even walls... Try WD40?! I had no idea how many uses it had...more on that tomorrow:)

What other tricks do you have?

Reflection..

Yesterday was a day full of so many emotions. The 10 year Anniversary commemorating the September 11th attacks brought back so many memories.

Where were you when the attacks happened?

I was in the tents for Fashion Week.

When did you first hear of the attacks?

Backstage I was on the phone with my mom's best friend, Charlene - her daughter was planning to come into the City for the day. She mentioned something about a plane hitting the world trade. Seconds later we were told they were evacuating the tents.

What were your thoughts/fears?

I had no idea what to think. Was this an accident or something more...?!

Who did you call first?

Cell phone service was practically nonexixtant. After much difficulty I finally got thru to my mother. She begged me to leave the City any way I could. I felt the need to stay.

Where did you go? Who did you spend the next 24, 48, 72 hrs with?

Everyone else was heading north away from Ground Zero as I started to walk downtown. Was there anything I could do to help?! I looked for a friend down by Union Square and decided it was best to head home. The second building had hit and both buildings were down. Something terrible was going on. I felt so fortunate to have amazing friends as roomates...me and my guy friends from Delaware got each other thru the next few days. I will never forget walking out to the street that night. We decided to try to get out of the apartment and away from the television...it was so depressing...there was no one else on the streets. New York City was a ghost town.

What did you notice after?

A City where people often walked around starring at the ground was now looking each other in the eye. There was an amazing sense of community. This tragedy should have never happened, but it did bring everyone together in an amazing way. We proved that we can not be defeated. We proved how strong we truly are.

Take a moment to think about what is really important in life. A friend wrote something that stuck out in my mind yesterday that I would like to share:

‎"10 yrs ago nothing mattered so much as where friends, family, co-workers were at those moments. On a plane?, in a building?, on a field trip? Somewhere! - We paused and did a "check" on who and where they were. Politics didn't matter, nor hurt against our fellow man/woman, who we had arguments with, or who we had petty grievances with. We were all brought together to comfort and hold each other up...Don't wait til events like this bring us together the way 9/11 did."

-Joshua Short