Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Food and Life

DIY Halloween Costume: DailyBuzz Moms 9×9

October 24, 2011 · Ad-Free, Narrative

Hard to believe that Halloween is just one week away.  Although I’d like to say it’s one of my favorite holidays, regular readers know how much I seriously love them all!  I have finally gotten my kids to nail down their Halloween costume choices, and the O’Malley household will be sporting a unicorn and a vampire this year.  I was really pulling for Madeline to be Rainbow Brite this year, you know, one of Strawberry ‘hortcake’s (as she calls her) best friends, but I lost the battle and gave in to a unicorn.  Given her unabashed love for unicorns, horses, cows, dolphins, and whales, it should come as no surprise that we’re having an animal trick-or-treating with us this year.

The folks at Pottery Barn Kids have some awesome Halloween costumes for children this year, and Madeline’s unicorn was very nicely provided to us by them.  To say she was thrilled that they had her first choice available would be an understatement.  It’s all I can do to prevent her from wearing it daily right now.  And I’m not letting her because, you know, white and a 3-1/2 year old is just not a good combination.  Although they tend to be a little more costly than I would normally spend, a lot of them are on sale now (with free shipping!), and they really are well made.  Nice tight stitching, super soft fabrics, and I love that it’s loose enough that I can put warm weather clothing on underneath the costume without making her feel like she’s been smothered to pieces.  Because in typical New Jersey fashion, it’s back to being cold again, and who knows what next Monday brings.

Stumped for Halloween inspiration for your own little ones?  You might want to check out DailyBuzz.  Tomorrow they will be featuring nine DIY Halloween costumes that you can make at home very easily, and I’m happy to report that this Butterfly Catcher costume we made last year for a Disney column is one of the nine featured.  It’s super simple to make and you might even have everything you need in your house right now.  If not, a trip to your local Dollar Store will quickly take care of that.  Can’t wait to see the other 8 creative costumes featured.

Need inspiration for your pup?  You can check out the Virtual Pet Parade featured by the folks at Animal Planet, and snag a costume for your very own canine while you’re there.  Maxwell, the newest member of the O’Malley household, is sporting butterfly wings (although, unfortunately, not visible in the picture they are featuring there), but he has a fun polka-dotted cap on.  Well, I think polka dots are fun.  Maxwell might be in a different camp on that opinion.  While there, you can certainly cheer him up and give him a vote if you’re so inclined….

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Weekend Photos in Review

October 23, 2011 · Photos

Almost Ready for Halloween

Safety Patrol Captain
One of Nick’s friends, Katie, rocking the honor of being their school’s Safety Patrol Captain.

Cutest Thing Ever
Told you I’d share my shoes.

Practice Makes Perfect
Madeline puts serious time into practicing her writing of the letters.

Handwriting All-Star
See? Are those not fantastic letter A’s? This year, her teacher is teaching the alphabet in a screwy way. The first few letters were in order, and now she’s all over the place. Something about some of the kids can’t draw circles, so she’s grouping the letters by how they’re drawn. I am so not a fan of this method because I think it’s crazy confusing.

Friday Dinner

…

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Random Wednesday Happenings

October 5, 2011 · Wordless Wednesday

Cooperative
This little one fell at school today while dancing, and got a busted, bloody, swollen lip in return. I talked to her a few minutes after it happened, and she was happily sucking on an ice pop. The Director put Madeline’s hair up to keep it from getting bloody and darn it, she looks so cute. I try every day to coerce her into letting me do something, ANYTHING, with her hair, to no avail. Her teacher said after everyone saw her with her hair back, and her gorgeous eyes showing, all the kids kept coming up to her to tell her how beautiful she looked, so maybe there’s hope for tomorrow morning.

Cuteness
She picked these weeds flowers for me this afternoon and said, “Mommy, you can carry these when you marry your boyfriend.” Calm yourself, it doesn’t mean I have an announcement. It just means a very adorable little girl has a romantic streak. And gosh, when did she stop looking like a baby?? She needs to stop this growing up stuff.  I’m not nearly ready for her to look so grown-up.

Maxwell
A few of you asked questions about Maxwell. He is a 75 lb Golden Retriever. We adopted him from a rescue group that a friend recommended. He was lucky in that his history isn’t as terrible as they usually are when they’re rescued. He was one of two goldens owned by a husband and wife. The husband is very sick and they were no longer able to care for their dogs. Tomorrow will be two weeks that Maxwell has been with us. The kids adore him, and he has definitely acclimated himself really well. When his previous owners noted, in a letter direct from the dog to us, that he is a 75 pound lap dog, they weren’t kidding. If you’re on the couch, he will climb right on your lap. If you’re lying in bed, he gets as close as he can to you without being on top of you. As long as he learns to leave Madeline’s toys, for, well, Madeline, we’re golden. Ha.

Growing Up
People, we have a 9-year-old boy in the house. And I think there is a girl on his radar. Or something. Because the cologne and deodorant ritual has started. Lord help us. Not sure if this Mama is ready.

…

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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