2 favorites of the week

Favorite New Thing

The back of our house is almost back to normal. We have a deck!

Favorite Birthday Treat

6 layer chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle!

Linking up with Life Rearranged and Bargain Blonde

It's UNREAL candy!

I'm all about indulging your sweet tooth (self proclaimed chocoholic over here!), but I'm also worried about how much junk is in what I'm eating. I'm not big on artificial ingredients and flavors so when I heard about UNREAL Candy I knew this was right up my alley! Luckily being a BzzAgent paid off because I got to try out this goodness for myself.


I loved the packaging. The fact that it doesn't have the brand name plastered all over the front made it stand out for me. And it will certainly make people say "hey what's that?!". (Sorry that's my work side coming out, us marketing people worried about the branding)

I decided to use my free coupon for the Unreal 77, Peanut Butter Cups. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. They weren't super sweet like their traditional counterparts (Reese's) and I liked that. The chocolate tasted real, not fake. The serving size seems to be smaller than the leading brand, but I didn't do a real comparison. I could pronounce all the ingredients on the label which was a plus for me. I'm excited to try the other varieties of these unjunked candy bars.

*I was not paid for my review unless you count being paid with a free coupon to try their candy. All opinions are mine.

A getaway for Mommy

I had a bit of an early birthday weekend with my mom. I escaped from normal Mommy duties and went away. Ok so I didn't leave the city but I still got to relax with nobody asking me for anything. We started out with sushi at Naked Tchopstix

Then went to the Hilton Grand Hotel downtown for the evening. The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and headed to the new DSW that just opened. Of course I had to make a purchase. New heels for work and knee high boots for this fall.

After shoe shopping we went back downtown for Taste of the Arts. Which featured local food vendors, crafters and musicians. We made a quick stop at Old Navy so I could pick up a pair of colored skinny jeans. Here's what I got.

I'm still not exactly sure how to style them, but my new boots go really well with them! Then it was time for some more relaxation at my favorite spa.

Then it was back to reality, back to being a mom. I was ok with that though, I missed them. It's hard to take time out for yourself and not worry about what's going on back at home. I knew my DH was handling everything and that nobody would be broken or upset when I got back. 

Chocolate ... yes please!

I may have mentioned it before but if not I love chocolate! Seriously, I have to consume it at least once a day in order to stay sane. I can't turn it down, well unless it's gross chocolate. I'm kind of a chocolate snob. I like the good stuff, not that crappy valentine's day stuff that they crank out just to make a few bucks. I want the good, dark chocolate, amazingly delicious stuff. (See what I mean, I kind of am obsessed like chocolate) So when the good people at Ghirardelli wanted me to try some of their chocolate I couldn't say no!

Look at all the chocolatey goodness waiting for me!

Of course I went straight for the dark chocolate! 

86% is a bit high for me, but it was still good. Most people I know don't like anything over 60% cacao, but I can usually enjoy anything from 70-80%, but still this one was on the edge for me. Some of the other dark chocolate contained raspberry filling, salted caramel and other yummy flavors. The raspberry was a bit artificial tasting to me, but it was still enjoyable.

I decided to save the rest of my dark chocolate for a stressful day and move on to the milk chocolate. I'm not a huge milk chocolate fan. Just not enough chocolate taste, but I have to say I was impressed with some of the milk chocolate variations (like the salted caramel). 

Whether you are a dark chocolate girl like me or a milk chocolate lover ... Ghirardelli has you covered!

*I was not paid for my review. I was provided the chocolate that I ate and no I didn't share any. Sorry! My blog will profit from links contained in this post if you choose to make a purchase. Trust me, it's a good investment!

Oh how Pinteresting ... DIY edition

Here's some of my latest DIY pins for this week's Oh how Pinteresting link-up at The Vintage Apple

Washi Tape Frames

Teacher gift idea

Striped table top with colorful legs

Stamping with pencil erasers

A camping we will go ...

We haven't been camping since Memorial Day weekend so we've all been itching to go. It was so much fun, just the four of us. Lots of s'mores were consumed and fun memories were made.

So nice to see green grass after the lack of rain we've had.

Meals over the fire, the only way to cook while camping

Sewing, cooking, running & 1st day of school!

Did some sewing to relax

The sewing turned into Christmas presents -- kids aprons made with Little Apples from Moda

Made crock pot lasagna based on this pin

Went for a much-needed run

First day of kindergarten for A!

Linking up with Life Rearranged

Strip quilt update

It was one of my goals to finish my strip quilt before 2012. I didn't meet that goal, but I did finally get it quilted (my first attempt at quilting) at the end of June and I'm pretty happy with the results. I plan on using this quilt when we go camping this weekend. It is the perfect size for one of the girls to use in the bunk beds.

I used a solid fabric for the back and quilted with light colored thread to create a strip effect on the back as well.

favorite photos from the week

Favorite Weekend Project

Ripping off wallpaper in the bathroom. I don't like the work, but I'm SOO excited to see it go!

Favorite Silly Face

J insists on wearing her sunglasses upside down

Favorite Artwork

Artwork with the kids -- A's hand and J's feet

Favorite Farmer's Market Finds

Strawberries, peaches and corn

Favorite Employee

Yours truly was named Employee of the Month - ha!

Linking up with Life Rearranged and Bargain Blonde

What a week!

J and A picked out the Colossus water gun for DH's birthday this past weekend

DH and I took a little road trip to Toledo with NO KIDS! I brought the essentials ...
fountain Diet Coke and beef jerky

We did some gambling at the new Hollywood Casino and made a few bucks! Woot!

2,200 flags line the streets in the small town I work in to honor the solider who was killed in Afghanistan

A has official joined Team K (team kindergarten)!

Linking up with Life Rearranged

Countdown ... 2 weeks

In 2 weeks A will be starting Kindergarten. I can't hardly believe it. Am I really old enough to have a child in school? Have I done enough to prepare her for school? Will she make friends? Will she listen to the teacher? How are we going to handle homework? Is she going to like it? I have a million more questions running through my head. It's so overwhelming. 
I was so excited to have kids. But it's amazing how fast they grow up! I know everyone says it, but it's true. I miss my baby. I'm not ready for her to grow up. I feel like I need to treasure every moment with her. 

I want to make these next few weeks special for her. Big changes are in store for both of us and I want to make sure she still has fun as a little kid before she becomes an official kindergartner. 


Here's my list of Pinterest finds that I hope to do over the next 2 weeks.

• Tie-dye shirts
• Water balloon pinata
• Take a family photo
• Go camping!