‘Wal-Mart’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Empowering Women Together {with Wal-Mart}

April 3, 2013 · Ad-Free, Narrative

When I attended the Coca-Cola Living Positively conference two years ago, one of my most favorite sound bites was from Wendy Clark, when she encouraged attendees (all women) to “lift as they climb.” It’s something that still resonates with me to this day and such an important message for all of us to live on a daily basis.

For what greater way to appreciate your own success than to help someone else along the way?

And so, this is along the same lines as Wal-Mart’s new Empowering Women Together campaign.

As part of a new five-year corporate commitment, they have created an online destination to give shoppers a place to purchase unique and interesting products, and while doing so, they are supporting small women-owned businesses around the world. Empowering Women Together offers more than 200 items from 19 businesses in nine countries. Some of the products include jewelry from Peru, Rwanda, Kenya and the U.S.; home accessories from Rwanda and Haiti; paper mache from Haiti, apparel and accessories from Rwanda; and iPad and laptop cases from Cambodia and Nepal. Each purchase will empower the woman behind the creation to live a better life for both herself and her family, and those happen to be my most favorite purchases. You can also find out more details in this video they created.

You can follow Empowering Women Together on Pinterest here, Twitter here, and Facebook here.

Tomorrow? Fish!

I am part of the Mom It Forward blogger network. Mom It Forward and Walmart partnered in support of this campaign. Walmart compensated me for participation in this campaign. However, all thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.

Girls Night In + Inspiration {craft}

December 1, 2012 · Ad-Free

What started out as a one-off girls’ night in has become a quarterly tradition that I kind of love.

Taking inspiration from Pinterest, I host a group of girlfriends every couple of months as we make a craft together and eat and drink wine and have a total girl gab fest.

We make sure the craft is super simple.

Mainly because of the aforementioned wine and eating and gabbing.

Because that’s what it’s really all about. Coming together. Laughing. Supporting. Sharing. And, um, in the case of our last two get-togethers, perhaps oversharing, but in the very best possible way.

Our winter get-together was two weeks ago, and we set our sights on this super simple wreath. There are a bunch of tutorials, and even You Tube videos, for how to do this. We first spied it on Eddie Ross’ web site. He of Martha Stewart, Food Network, and Bravo’s Top Design fame.

All you need is a wire coat hanger, ornaments, and a bow. (We skipped the glue gun step)

As you’re putting the ornaments onto the wire hanger, they naturally fall into a beautiful 3D arrangement. It seriously doesn’t get easier than this.

All our ornaments came from the same three or four stores, yet out of 8 wreaths made, none were identical.

Not even close.

Mine was the all silver one up at the top.

With the holiday season only just getting underway, you have plenty of time to make one of these fun and festive wreaths for your very own front door. Or as a gift for a neighbor. Or your kids’ bus driver. A co-worker made a few as hostess gifts, which is another fabulous idea.

*The ornaments on the silver wreath and the multi-colored wreath come from The Christmas Tree Shop. The ornaments on the gold and green wreath came from Wal-Mart.

When it comes to inspiration, there is no shortage of it, especially this time of year. Although Pinterest is one of my favorite go-to sources, there are plenty of other online sites to browse through. The folks at Minted (home to wonderful holiday cards) just had an inspiration challenge, where readers put together their own inspiration boards. The boards contain everything from holiday cards and decorations to table settings and stocking ideas. Sometimes there is nothing more inspiring than getting a peek at how others get their holiday on. I love this slightly Beatles-esque card with the gingerbread house-covered Christmas tree. Are you kidding me with this cuteness? And this blingy one is totally up my alley (especially as I still continue the hunt for the sparkly bag I spied this weekend).

Hungry for more?
At another Pinterest-inspired party we had, we made semi-simple nest necklaces. Love them.

Our next Pinterest party is planned with a Valentine’s Day theme in mind, and you know by now how much I love the holiday. Between that, our Bloggers Valentine’s Day Feast, and our own family/friends Valentine’s Day Dinner Party, you’d think I would be on Valentine’s Day overload. But you’d be wrong. I can’t wait.

xo Cate

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Recipe: Orange Coconut Cobbler Muffins {and Teacher Appreciation Week}

May 7, 2012 · Narrative

This past Saturday, Madeline stood in front of the counter at our favorite bagel shop and announced that she wanted muffins.

While staring at their very-large-look-better-than-they-taste muffin selection in the glass case.

“How about we make some muffins this weekend instead?”

Luckily she was quickly appeased.

I ended up waiting until today to make them, since the kids were with their Dad for the rest of this past weekend, and my littlest sous chef couldn’t have been happier.

She mixed. And stirred. And crumbled. And patted.

I was only arm candy, there just to provide measurement assistance and reaching things in high places.

All these years, who knew you were supposed to pat the crumbs down? Good thing she’s there to lead the way.

She could barely wait for them to come out of the oven.

And then to cool off.

And before even tasting them, has already ear-marked which one she wants for breakfast.

Luckily for her, they’re pretty darn tasty. The muffins are moist, without being overly sweet. In fact, most of the sweetness comes from the crumb topping, so be sure not to skip that step.

They were crazy simple to make. I’m not fibbing when I say Madeline took charge of most of the recipe. She was so proud of her efforts that she very carefully wrapped one of the muffins up tonight and sent it home with The Ex after Nick’s soccer try-outs (travel team).

This week is Teachers’ Appreciation Week, so three of the muffins are going to be packaged up and sent in for the kids’ teachers. This morning, I sent the kids in with these jars below.

Super simple to make, of course. I bought the jars from Wal-Mart, and filled them with Swedish fish. Tied with scrap ribbon I had on hand, and then made a quick label on the computer, using an image I found online and secured with a little bit of washi tape.

I heard they were a hit, so my work here is done. Well, for today, anyway.

Until tomorrow…

Source info:

*That cute stoneware plate that the muffin is on? It’s a series of appetizer plates from none other than Diane Keaton. They came out last year. She designed them for Bed, Bath, and Beyond and it took me forever to track them down. I have every one but the “yum.” If you can’t find them at your local BB&B, they can order them and have them shipped directly to your house, which is what I did. They’ll still take the 20% off coupon, so that ended up covering the shipping cost. And if you’re interested in hearing more about her inspiration and foray into the design world, you’ll like this article from the New York Times (I love that square plate pictured in the article, but haven’t found it anywhere).

* Madeline’s dress is from the folks at Pink Chicken (specifically this one). They sent it over to give us a chance to check it out. It’s super soft, ultra comfy, and really nice and roomy. She loves the little pink chicken that is embroidered on the front of it, and as long as I don’t call it a dress, she’ll wear it any day of the week. (She wears it with leggings)

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Recipe: Lofthouse-Style Cookies

March 28, 2012 · Narrative

This has been one of those weeks at the office where we are all, nearly literally, crawling to Friday.

That we were all supremely disappointed to find out that it was only Wednesday.

That a liquid lunch sounded like just the thing to take the edge off.

Except that it’s generally frowned upon.

The type of week that can only be saved by nearly three sticks of butter.

And a quick count to see just how many hours are left until Friday.

Have you heard of Lofthouse cookies? Funny. Every person that tried these had never heard of them before. I thought they were a little more widely known than that.

They are the giant, frosted, soft sugar cookies you can find in plastic clamshells at your local grocery store or Wal-Mart. Lofthouse got its start in 1994, and as it gained in popularity, it had added more items to its line, including gingerbread kits.

I found a copycat recipe for the cookies last week and, of course, pinned it to my cookies board on Pinterest.

Monday night, despite a very full day of work, school, CCD, and scouts, the recipe got made. Nick was out of the house for 12 and a half hours. Cookies make things like that better.

The recipe is super simple to make, and I even followed the directions enough to allow for an hour of dough chilling. Truth be told, I usually skip that step.

No patience whatsoever.

Especially with primadonna recipes.

Let alone primadonna people.

The recipe said 24 cookies. I eeked out 22. I also needed to let mine cook for a good 6-8 minutes past the suggested cooking time.

But they were good.

Sweet. Without being too sweet. Big. Almost too big.

We wrapped up a single cookie for three of the kids’ teachers. A plate full of them went into work. And a few more went to neighbors.

Just a few left at home for us.

Which is perfect.

When you want to eat your troubles away or give away a sweet treat just because.

Lofthouse-Style Cookies. You can grab the recipe right here.

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Preparing for Success

March 8, 2011 · Narrative

When it comes to meeting any goal head-on, whether it be health, fitness or otherwise, you absolutely, positively have to be prepared going in. If not, you are just setting yourself up for failure. Guaranteed. How can you succeed if you don’t have the proper tools?

The difference between the impossible and the possible
lies in a person’s determination.
– Tommy Lasorda

Since I started my massive “Cate overhaul” over a year ago, I’ve had friends ask me how they can get started. What I have been doing is not rocket science. I armed myself with the best tools possible for what I wanted to achieve and committed to it. I have given this nearly everything that I can, and then some, and have reaped the rewards because of it. But it’s nothing special. You can do it just as easily. As long as your going-in position is all about preparedness. How could you possibly succeed otherwise?

A good beginning makes a good end.
– English Proverb

You have GOT to have a good pair of sneakers. It doesn’t mean that you have to spend a fortune on them either. Truth be told, my go-to Zumba sneakers are a pair of $15 Danskin sneakers from Wal-Mart, which The Neighbor Husband calls my “lunchlady sneakers.” Hey, they do the job. So do these Rykas. I heart Ryka, a brand made for women by women. They mold to your feet like no other. Whatever your exercise routine is, make sure you get the proper sneakers for your activity. I have a few pairs I swap out, but have a soft spot for Ryka. In fact, I am still hanging on to my favorite pair, even though the holes in them mean my feet automatically get wet when it’s raining outside. Just can’t give them up.

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude
from achieving his goal, nothing on earth can help the man
with the wrong attitude”
– Thomas Jefferson

If you are heading out of the house for your work-outs, get thyself a gym bag. Again, it’s not about how much you spend. Five Below has some great Nike ones. Mine comes from TJ Maxx and was a whopping twelve bucks. Fifteen months later, even though I’ve grown tired of the design, it’s still going strong and is washable, a huge plus in my opinion. I keep my gym membership cards in the zippered pocket, as well as my iPod headphones, a few dollars and a couple granola bars, so the bag is ready when I am.

What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that’s another matter.
– Peter F. Drucker

Whatever your work-out of choice is, make sure you have the proper equipment before embarking on a new program. If you don’t, there will always be an excuse. Whether you need kettlebells (my newest obsession), resistance bands or a jump-rope, arm yourself with the necessities.

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
– Beverly Sills

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Whether you’re on Weight Watchers, visiting Curves or a gym rat, the refrain is very commonplace … drink water, drink water, drink water. You are supposed to drink half your weight in water ounces a day. And that is if you’re not working out. Are you drinking enough? And if you’re working out, it should be even more. My Spin instructor said 40 ounces of water for 40 minutes of spin. And get yourself a refillable water bottle. Please. Enough of the disposable bottles. It kills me to see a garbage bin filled with them at the gym. First, they should be recycling them, and second, so much unnecessary waste. I’ve gone through a bunch of reusable sports bottles to find my favorite. These are from Costco. They were $18 for a package of three (although they have gone on sale for $15/set before). They are BPA-free and completely and positively leak-proof. They have a clip so you can attach them to your gym bag. Nick even takes one to school every day. Love them.

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