Love Valentine's Day Wreath Tutorial

Handmade Love Valentine's Day Wreath

Since I've been so longing for an end to this winter I decided to update our wintery wreath for a festive Valentine's Day one! However, I must admit that I love my wreath too much for it to brave the elements outside so I have it beautifully displaying on our fireplace, and I personally have plans to make another similar wreath to have outside our front door.

So how was I wreath-inspired you ask? Well, I am not ashamed to admit that I am a big fan of Pinterest. You can find me on Pinterest here. While I was browsing wreath ideas I came across Sweetheart Valentine's Day Wreath by blogger Flamingo Toes. If you aren't familiar with Flamingo Toes please do become familiar! If you enjoy crafting like me, you most likely will be endlessly inspired.

I must admit that I did follow Flamingo Toes Sweetheart Valentine's Day Wreath tutorial to create mine, so I cannot take full credit for its creation. The only major difference between my wreath and hers is that I embroidered the word "LOVE" instead of "Sweet." If you're interested in making this wreath or one inspired by this feel free to use your own word too. Flamingo Toes also has a variety of tutorials on flower making which also can add in making your wreath look one of a kind!

Overall, I'd say the Love Valentine's Day Wreath was enjoyable to create. It was not necessarily hard, but there were plenty of minor steps so to some it may feel tedious but the end result is worth the time spent!

Let me know if you make this wreath, a similar wreath, or another craft inspired by the blog.

Happy Crafting!

XOXO,
MiddleCoastMommy

What I Ate Monday

Alright! It's week 2 already for "What I Ate Monday!" Each week I'll feature one dish while listing out what I had for the rest of the day. Hope you enjoy!

Healthy Old Fashioned Oatmeal with Strawberries

Breakfast:

Healthy Oatmeal (*Featured Dish)
-1/2 cup old fashioned oats mixed with 1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Breeze Milk heated for 2 minutes in the microwave
-Couple dashes of cinnamon (one of my favorite spices)
-1/4 cup freshly cut strawberries
-Water to drink

This simple, healthy dish doesn't need a spoon of sugar! The Almond Milk gives it some sweetness, cinnamon added flavor, and the strawberries an extra kick.

Lunch:
-Small Aztec Mocha with Almond Milk (my FAVORITE coffee drink! and yes, pregnant women are allowed 200 mg of caffeine max so i'm ok)
-Turkey Salad with hard boiled egg, cherry tomato, onion, pepper, and honey dijon dressing
-Water to drink

(Sweet) Snack:
-Handful of semi-sweet chocolate morsels (can't resist that chocolate)
-Water to drink

Dinner:
-Potato and green beans with baked chicken
-And more water to drink!

Happy Monday!

xoxo,
MiddleCoastMommy

DIY Engagement Gift Basket

Engagement Gift Basket

Recently a good friend of mine got engaged and to share my thrill with her, I created an engagement gift basket! It's a fun and nice thing to do for your friends or family who get engaged! So here's what I did:

Engagement Gift Basket ala MiddleCoastMommy:

1. Wrap a box in cute gift wrap
2. Line/stuff the box with tissue paper
3. Fill the box with engagement goodies! In my case I picked a bridal magazine, some bubbly, a small cute notebook with a pink pen, two romantic heart wall sconces with votive candle holders and candles, relaxing lavendar bath oil and facial mask combo, and topped off with candy and a card!

Hope this gives you some good ideas when it becomes your turn to give!

xoxo, MiddleCoastMommy

What I Ate Monday

Thought it'd be fun to try a regular posting on Mondays called "What I Ate Monday." Since this is the first time I'm doing this I'll just highlight what I ate for lunch today, but in the future I'll show off my entire day.

Veggie Sandwich with more.... VEGGIES!

Veggie Sandwich:

Veggie Sandwich with side of VEGGIES

-Two slices of whole wheat bread (I use Sara Lee whole wheat for two reasons-not a ridiculous amount of calories and no high fructose corn syrup-one of my major no-no's!)
-Classic hummus spread on each slice (Hummus is a great substitute for condiments like mayo)
-A large handful of raw spinach
-4 slices of pepper (any color works)
-4 thin slices of cucumber
-2-3 thin slices of tomato

Veggie Side:
-Handful of broccoli
-Handful of cauliflower
-2 TBSP classic hummus
-Pepperoncini (1-3 total)
**I cut and broke up a head of broccoli and cauliflower so that I have a ton for the week. I've found the pre-cut raw veggies in the bags get used up VERY quickly-at least in our house.

Drink:
-La Croix Pamplemousse (my latest favorite flavor)

Happy Monday!

XOXO, MiddleCoastMommy

WhippyCake

WhippyCake's iconic pixie-cut

So recently I discovered WhippyCake and I'm in love!

WhippyCake's beauty is Becki who is a talented stylist filled with plenty of wonderful tutorials on skin routine, beauty products, styling pixie cuts, make-up, etc. She's been quite an inspiration to me as of late not only because she's a stunning combination of beautiful and cute, but also she's a Mom of FOUR!

So here's to picking up my beauty routine! Cheers! ;)

XOXO, MiddleCoastMommy

Cabin Fever Remedies

I thought it may be time to share some MiddleCoastMommy tips on dealing with cabin fever. Even if you live in a climate where you can get out of the house, sometimes cabin fever can be brought on simply by those "down in the dumps" feelings, and yes everyone can have them.

So if you're feeling stuck in the house whether you're a mommy or not, I hope this helps!

Cabin Fever Remedies MiddleCoastMommy style:

• First off develop that "Nobody's going to call me a Softie!" attitude. Refuse to give in, push yourself through the toughest situations and you can do that with a chirpy or even  "bad ass" demeanor, but DO IT! 
• Turn up some positive energy tunes whether that's dance music, oldies, or even some good ol' classic rock. Whatever gets you pumped, turn it up and dance around. This can be especially fun with the little ones!
• Become a "chef." By that I mean develop the confidence to try new recipes and display your dishes in fine culinary style.
• Stretch! Simple as that. When our bodies feel stiff, of course we don't want to get out of bed or off the couch, but when our bodies are stretched you'll feel ready for anything and everything.
• Exercise or at least move often! Don't stay dormant, be the opposite of lazybones!
• Clean. Messy houses are not the kind that make you want to get up and dance, they're the kind that makes you want to run and hide under the covers. Cleaning is not a once a week activity, it's more of an every day activity and can be part of your "move often" initiative.
• Eat and drink healthy (no CRAP-carbonated drinks, refined sugars, artificial food, processed food). When you give your body healthy food and drink you feel light and energetic.
• Call family and/or friends to chat or set up a time to visit. Make sure your calendar is filled with positive people!
• Pick up a hobby or a DIY activity. You can perfect old talents or always discover new ones.
• Pretend you're actually at a luxury spa, and you're not stuck inside because of some ol' blizzard outside, but rather because it's your day to be pampered! Make DIY scrubs and facial masks, soak in the tub, deep condition your hair, or give yourself a mani/pedi just as a few ideas. If you're looking for how-to's you'll find plenty on Pinterest. 
• "Dress to the nines!" While 3rd trimester MiddleCoastMommy really is digging her yoga pants and leggings right now, sometimes it's just really nice to doll yourself up in something pretty, jazz up your hair and makeup, and top yourself off with your favorite jewelry. Even if you're just going to be around the house all day it's still fun to play dress up! ;)
• Learn a new language! You can either borrow books from a library or buy your own, or try something more interactive like buying Rosetta Stone or trying Duolingo for free. 
• Get inspired. TED talks is a wonderful way to start! 
• LAUGH! It's important to laugh every day, hard. So make sure those hilarious people or cute animal videos are part of your life every day. 

The more you think about it, a list like this can get longer and longer. So let that be encouraging! Instead of letting cabin fever get you bored and down think of it rather as the perfect opportunity to do what it is that makes you smile.

XOXO, MiddleCoastMommy

Volcanic Coffee

Today I witnessed an event I never thought possible: volcanic coffee. No, I'm not talking a volcano brownie flavored coffee drink. I'm talking bubbling-fizzing-overflowing-volcanic-spewing coffee. Curious? Well, since you asked...

Around noon today I was on my lunch break at work. Considering how cold it's been I have avoided stepping foot outside even if it means to the grocery store, which means I had a creative lunch. Pop something in the microwave, grab something out of your bag, and voila! Frozen steamed broccoli and bell pepper with a side of chocolate peanut butter protein bar. While I was savoring my delectably "healthy" lunch, a coworker began preparing hers. Pop something in the microwave and a science experiment of a drink, volcanic coffee.

I sat there innocently enough eating my veggies while I casually notice her put a piece of paper towel on the table and a mug of hot water on top. She pulls out a plastic beaker  or I mean a plastic pouch of "coffee," tears it open, and with a quick move almost as if she was a seasoned wizard over a cauldron, dumps the powder into the hot water. All of a sudden I hear it. Hear what? The coffee. Are you supposed to hear coffee? Well this coffee you hear a fizz, and then see the bubbles, and then faint at the site of the overflowing beverage. It reminded me of my 8th grade baking powder and vinegar volcano, or when diet coke meets mentos, or an exploding volcano. Considering there was already a paper towel under the mug I assume this wasn't her first time at the rodeo. That she had indeed experienced this coffee phenomenon. Might I mention there was also a rancid smell coming from the cauldron ahem sorry I mean the mug.

I sat there shocked at what I had just witnessed while another coworker rushed to the scene with more paper towel. Instead of contacting FEMA about this disastrous coffee episode, she apologized for disturbing our lunches, sits down peacefully with a book and her coffee and sips it as if nothing strange had happened.

Still shocked, I sat there looking at the dried streaks of coffee on the side of the mug (from the fizzing overflow of course), and wondered: Why do people put this in their body? Have we forgotten the art of drinking, the art of eating? I think more and more people lose touch with the romance of food. They have gotten too busy to take the time to sit with food, talk to food, shower the food with flowers. Eating is about replenishing the body, replenishing the soul. It is a way that we show care, consideration, and love for ourself and others. Romance your food and drink as if you were a Parisian couple at a cafe enjoying your artistic treat as you're watching life float by. I promise you that if you are at peace and in love with your meal, you will see the joy in the world, because you tasted the joy that mother earth gave you through nourishment. Say no to frankenfood, say yes to romance.

The Romance of Coffee

Healthy Vegetarian Lunch for "Two"

Healthy Vegetarian Soup and Salad Lunch

Today on this frigid, yet again, January day, I thought it'd be fun to share with you my healthy
vegetarian lunch for "two." By two I mean me and le bebe of course!

Not only is it important for mother and baby to have a variety of wonderful nutrients, but it also will help baby enjoy those same flavors once he/she can munch on their own.

Healthy Soup and Salad for "Two"

Soup:
-Bowl of Pacific's Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup  topped with crushed red pepper (hot spices not only helps boost metabolism, heats up the body on a cold day, but makes you drink a ton of water!)

Salad:
-Spring Salad mix (ex: spinach, arugula, romaine, etc.)
-1/2 a slice of swiss cheese
-1 hardboiled egg
-1/2 tomato (cut into wedges)
-1/4 cup orange pepper (chopped)
-Dash of crushed red pepper
-Drizzle Annie's Organic Papaya Poppy Seed dressing

Beverage:
-Ice Water with a couple frozen blackberries to infuse delicious flavor
**Add a straw for some extra fun!

Happy lunching!

xoxo, MiddleCoastMommy

Winter Stay-Date!

You've probably heard of staycations, right? Well, I'm going to attempt to put "Stay-Dates" and even possibly a Stayabymoon on the map!

A Great Lakes kind of Winter

Since we're located in the Great Lakes region, you may or may not have heard that we can get brutal winters like today with our -20 degree real feel temperature (yes you read right, NEGATIVE 20 degrees!). Being locked inside due to frigid temperature, ice, and snow can put a damper on planned date nights. So, this weekend we took matters into our own hands and created a Stay-Date plan, or so we thought!

We set our plan. Saturday night (after Zooey goes to sleep) we'd try a new dish of spicy Italian meatballs (A Pioneer Woman recipe only without the ricotta cheese) with whole wheat spaghetti topped with tomato basil sauce with a side of warm french bread drizzled with parsley-infused olive oil and parmesan cheese. And a dessert of dark chocolate, sparkling grape juice (for me) and red wine for my love, David. The table would be set with roses and candles, and a relaxing atmosphere of candles and ambient music to end the evening.

Our Saturday was set. We had shopped. We had thoroughly played with Zooey, read her books, and fed her plenty. David showered, then Zooey had her duckie bath, and more pictures books were read. Then it was finally my turn to shower. The shower handle seemed a bit stiff, but I wasn't alarmed. That was until I went to turn it off. The shower would not turn off. No fear, David would fix it just continue being that calm, relaxed, I'm still a beautiful woman-not in my third trimester mindset, we can still have a relaxing stay-date-evening mindset. I am determined. Casually I call down to David, "David? I don't think the shower is working right. Can you take a look at it?" All the while I'm rubbing a natural lavender moisturizer into my calm, relaxed self.

I gracefully head to our bedroom while David takes a look at the shower. At this point I'm doing my hair, putting on makeup and perfume, and dolling myself up in a nice dress and my favorite jewelry. Because hey, really, just because it's a Stay-Date and you've been married for a bit and on to your second kid doesn't mean you can't treat a date at home like it isn't a first, right? I proudly look at myself in the mirror and head out of the room only to find a concerned David still looking at the shower that was still running.

"The shower is broken. I can't turn it off. The shut off valve won't even turn it off." David says.
Still determined I say, "Call your Dad or your uncle. I'm sure they will know what to do!" At this point I'm thinking it's the simple thing of just tightening a screw here or perhaps there, but what it led to was David's Dad coming over. Still calm and graceful I think, "Whew, that's wonderful! We are so lucky to have your Dad who is willing to come over on a Saturday night to look at our shower. This shower will be fixed in no time!" Mind you, it was about 5pm at this point. David's Dad comes over, and ends up doing what David did, call family. Still... this calm... relaxed... I'm still beautiful-not in my third trimester calmness, "Whew, that's wonderful! We are so lucky to have FAMILY who are willing to come over on a Saturday night to look at our shower! This shower will be fixed in no time! Especially since David, your uncle, has a tool to fix just this problem!"

While we wait for David's uncle, we continue preparations for our delicious Stay-Date dinner. His uncle arrives, and shortly after discover that our 1928 year old Tudor style house has calcified the shower pipe so much that the cartilage to remove and replace (to fix the shower) shatters into pieces, IN the pipe itself. The pieces were calcified into the edges of the pipe. If we had hired I plumber, I guarantee the plumber would say we just need the entire piping system to be replaced. At this point I'm feeling less of my calm, relaxed, I'm still beautiful self. I'm starting to wonder when am I going to shower next? When is Zooey going to get a bath next? Why do we live in a house with one full bath!? What's going to happen next? Well, what happened next was that David's Dad and uncle took that cartilage piece by piece out of the pipe, chipping away at the calcified sides. At this point it was almost 9pm, and Zooey hadn't even gone to sleep. With the banging around of the shower pipes, which are practically on the wall next to Zooey's crib, we knew she wouldn't be sleeping until they were finished. Zooey was being a good sport. She was enjoying her extra time up. Plenty of more play time and reading time for her, she thought.

Soon we discovered to finish the job someone (David's Dad and uncle) would need to run out for a part at the hardware store (luckily one was still open). Around 10 pm they started work again. The food that we had prepped earlier had been wrapped and put away, and our tummies starting to wonder what are we going to eat? Good thing I had gotten frozen pizza earlier that week for a just-in-case situation. It wasn't until around 11:30 PM the shower was finished. There was a leak that they were trying to fix because who would want an old porcelain bathtub crashing through the first floor ceiling due to water damage?

We thanked our family generously with tired and drained eyes, put Zooey to sleep, and ate our pizza. Tomorrow night perhaps?

Stay-Date Dinner

Sunday. Sunday is the day we say! Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed we decide let's try again, let's make
Stay-Date possible! Believe it or not, but the second time was the charm! After Zooey fell asleep (around 8pm), as dinner cooked, we set up the dining room with music, dimmed lights, candles, and roses. Sparkling grape juice (and wine) is poured, and dinner is served. Our relaxing Stay-Date of french bread, whole wheat spaghetti, meatballs, dark chocolate, and lovely, quality romance ensues.

With our successful Sunday night Stay-Date, we might have to see about that successful Stay-abymoon! ;)

xoxo. MiddleCoastMommy

Build Your Child's Home Library

Zooey's Growing Library

Early literacy is an important step of development from the earliest stage. Simply showing pictures on a page to a baby is as important as that first page turn to that first book request to that " 'nother book" request and so on. Not only do books help build reading and oral vocabulary, but also help build empathy, imagination, and being able to understand situations from perspectives other than their own. Reading or even being read to is an important part of every child's early life, and if you're looking for a way to help build your child's home library I suggest checking out Dolly Parton's Imagination Library!

A couple years ago we registered for the Imagination Library after we had Zooey. Since then every month we have received a brand new book just for her. The books are specific to her (interest) level, and range from all sorts of genres, such as classics to humor to character building. She will receive a book every month for the first FIVE years of her life! So through this program Zooey will have 60 books in her personal library just with this program alone! Oh, and shall I add that this program is free!? The only "catch" is that you need to live in a specified area of need, which you can find out if you qualify on the Imagination Library website. If you don't qualify for the program, please share this information with others, because children's literacy is important and we need to be there for each other and what is best for all children!

By the way, if you're looking for ways to build your child's home library for cheap, check out your local library's book sale, thrift stores/resale shops, and used books online. And if that's a little overwhelming as in not knowing what to look for, ask a librarian for recommendations, review books on GoodReads, or ask me (I'm always happy to help)!

Happy Reading!

XOXO, MiddleCoastMommy

Best Homekeeping Handbook

Every once in a while I've checked out a home keeping book from the library, but I must say that I finally found my favorite! Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home is a fantastic guidebook that I highly recommend to have in your home!

Even though it was published in 2006, it should hold the test of time. One of my favorite things about the book is that it breaks down the areas of the house and thoroughly explains how to take care of rooms, various items, and even gives suggestions/explanations of items to have.

If you grew up like me where Home Ec was never a requirement and cereal/frozen meals were the meal to "serve," this book should be drool-worthy. It answers practically every question you have and most likely will have in the future. Get it new or used, this is an "essential" for your household bookshelf!

xoxo, MiddleCoastMommy

Third Trimester

The New Year rings in the beginning of my third trimester. It's hard to believe that just a few days ago I was in my second, and a few months ago that I was in my first. So what does my third trimester have in store?

Well for one, next week I have my glucose screening test (which involves a sugary drink that makes your tummy ache like you were a kid who ate all the Halloween candy). Other doctor visits I imagine go from the monthly check up to twice a month to weekly along with more pokes and prods. Beside doctors visits, hospital bag packing, and setting up space for baby and reintroducing those adorable newborn outfits, I think some pampering is in order. I had hopes of a second babymoon, but considering my husbands doctorate program was moved ahead I'm most likely going to have to sacrifice that special and relaxing weekend. So, perhaps I'll take it in my own hands and while he's being a good student I'll be good to myself.
xo, middlecoastmommy