Tag: moving

Family Friendly Finds

Ashley2 Comments

The last two weeks I’ve felt a little bit less inspired when it comes to writing blog posts.  A lot of that is a direct result of not getting out much, due to my broken ankle.  I’m only on week two of wearing my hard cast, with two more to go before I hopefully will be in a walking boot.

The good news is that we are officially living in our new house now, but I still am very reliant on Craig and my family for help.  Being that Friday through Sunday are Craig’s work days, we decided it was best for Gia and I to stay at my mom and dad’s while Craig works his 12 hour shifts.

I’m able to put pressure on my ankle more and more, and I’m using one crutch instead of two, fairly regularly.  Yesterday I did get a little overly excited when I realized I could take a few very hobbled, unassisted steps.  I certainly paid for that afterwards – by the end of the night I felt like my ankle was swelling and had caught fire inside my cast!  Now I know to not push too hard and take the help I’m being offered.  Duh, Ashley!

All this sitting has led to some online shopping.  Uh oh, yes, online shopping can be very dangerous, but I promise everything I’ve picked out is super functional and will make for great Christmas gifts!  So here I am, ready to share some of my finds with you, because they are especially nice for families with children.

Find #1:

Guidecraft Kitchen Helper

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I’ve been meaning to order one of these kitchen helpers for Gia for quite some time now.  I’m big on letting her do a lot on her own and I think it’s really catapulted her development.  She loves doing everything that we do, so we like to encourage her and include her by cooking together, letting her help feed the dog, letting her throw things away, etc.

I like this Kitchen Helper because it folds up nicely, it’s sturdy and it can grow with Gia as she gets older.  It can hold up to 125lbs!  Crazy!  It has fun little cut outs and a marker/chalk board on the side too.

I didn’t buy ours through the Guidecraft website, only because I found it on Amazon where it was a better price.  I believe that some Target stores carry the Kitchen Helpers too.  There are many varieties and brands available, so what works for Gia may or may not work for your child too.

Find #2:

Restoration Hardware Luxe Faux Fur Bean Bag

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As if you needed a reason to purchase such a plush, cozy bean bag – I knew this one was a no brainer!  With a multitude of colors, these bean bags are the ultimate childhood dream turned adult reality!

This purchase was for me, as much as it was for Gia.  Although she already has a bean bag chair with an adorable star print and custom embroidery, I knew she’d love to sit on this in the family room.  As of late, she has enjoyed sitting like a big girl on our furniture.  Again – she wants to do everything just like us, so there’s no surprise there.

We decided to go with the “Wolf” faux fur, as it fit our color scheme best.  I even got my mom to order the “Sable” version for her house.  The best part about these bean bags is that they’re on SALE!  Even better yet, I’m a member with RH and I got a fab deal!

These bean bags normally retail for $249 and the sale price is $199.  If you’re a member you can score one now for $159!  That’s a $90 savings!  Go get one now!

Find #3:

ECR4 Kids Bentwood Multipurpose Table

 

A kids table and chair set was another thing I’d been searching for the last few months for Gia.  I had a few in mind and truly just stumbled upon this one while searching Amazon.  Yep, Amazon does it again!

This ECR4 Bentwood Table sold me right away with its multipurpose functionality.  There is such an added value in it because it can be used in a variety of ways.  This table and chair set is significantly more expensive on the ECR4kids website than it is on Amazon.  That is also probably the reason why it is currently out of stock on Amazon.  I believe I saw this set on the ECR4 website for $220 and I ordered it on Amazon for $161.40.  Go me!

Regardless of it being out of stock, I will be notified of when it’s available to ship and won’t be charged until that time.  I don’t care if I have to wait a little while, I think it’s worth getting the one I want for Gia.  I see lots of crayon coloring, snacking and reading happening at this table set in the future.

Hopefully if you’re in the market for any of these items you’ll consider the ones above.  I think they’re going to work great for our family.  I guess you know you love being a parent when you enjoy finding things for your child more than finding things for yourself!

xo

 

Mommy Has An Owie 

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Two days ago Craig and I loaded up Gia’s beautiful round crib and glider to bring over to the new house. These were the last “big” items that we needed to get in the house before we could officially start living there. 

As beautiful as Gia’s crib is, it’s a pain in the neck because it doesn’t breakdown at all. Almost every normal size doorway does not allow it to pass through, which spells out problems. We had to remove a small piece of wood from the doorway to get it into her new room, just as we had to do at the old house when we first got the crib. 

With the glider and crib being the final big pieces to move in, we decided to start off with the easier of the two and get the glider in first.  Craig was holding one end and I had the other – he was going into the house backwards with it so I didn’t have to. Once we got from the bottom of the driveway up to the walkway things went south. 

While holding the glider and not seeing where the walkway curved, I rolled my ankle off the walkway and into the grass. I immediately screamed out and collapsed to the ground. I’d like to think I’m pretty tough and tolerant of pain – after all, I made it through all natural childbirth of an 8lb. 15oz. baby in 30 minutes. (Yes, I’m proud of that!) Even though I’m tough, the loud snap that Craig and I heard confirmed in my mind, along with the pain, that I definitely had a broken ankle. Even the neighbors came running down the street to see if I was okay. 

Picture of me smiling through the pain:


Low and behold, after a trip to the ER, the doctor came in to give me the bad news. Yep. Broken. The absolute worst part about all of this is being completely useless with Gia. I’m pretty much bed ridden all day because I need to keep my ankle elevated. Anytime I get up I feel like my ankle is about to explode.  Things could have been worse though, so I’m thankful. 

Dr. G is taking good care of me:


I head back to the doctor on Tuesday for the real cast. The one I have is temporary because the swelling needs to go down and the doctor needs to make sure everything is aligned properly. 

I’m not sure how long I’ll be in a cast, or how long I’ll be using crutches. The other upsetting part about all of this is no working out. You never appreciate your health and mobility more than when you’re out for the count. 

Speaking of health – I found out that the blood I donated a few weeks ago went to use at a hospital in West Covina, CA. It’s pretty cool that I was able to find out where it went and that it helped someone in need. That’s just another reminder as to why this broken ankle is just a bump in the road. Life is still good!

Pumpkins + Munchkins

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I’ve been a blogging slacker for the last three weeks or so, but I think you’ll understand why.  First of all, with the horrendous amount damage and displacement caused by the fires in our area the last couple of weeks, it just didn’t feel right to blog or post much on social media.  I felt guilty going about my everyday life knowing that just up the road people had lost absolutely everything.

Photo from my mom & dad’s front yard on day 1 of the fires:

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Craig and I donated to our local church, Northgate Christian Fellowship, but wished we could do so much more.  Craig did work some mutual aid in one of the hardest hit areas of Santa Rosa – the Coffey Park neighborhood.  He showed me pictures of the neighborhoods and it was shocking to see how unrecognizable things looked.

On the brighter side of things, we closed on our house earlier than expected and started moving in.  It’s seemed like a never-ending transition from the last house to the new one, and we aren’t sleeping there just yet, but I’m thinking we will be next week.  We are so excited to be in our new house, in such a wonderful neighborhood.  Our street is full of little ones and friendly families.  We’ve already met four of our neighbors and I can’t say enough about how welcoming and nice they are.

What I’m looking forward to most about the new neighborhood is Gia being able to make friends as she grows.  I just have such a good feeling about all of it and I can’t help but feel so fortunate.

To cap off the busy week that we’ve had as a family, Gia and I went downtown to stroll First Street for the Halloween Costume Walk.  I wondered how much we’d actually get to walk with a 14 month old, but it was so much fun and Gia did great.  She loved waving and saying hello to all of the other kids who were dressed up.

The only candy she had interest in hanging on to was her mini crunch bar.  By the end of our stroll it was half melted in the wrapper.  Of course I wasn’t planning on giving it to her – not enough teeth and that kid doesn’t need a sugar jolt.

Our little pumpkin with her candy of choice:

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There were some really great costumes and cute families who dressed up together.  Gia wore the pumpkin costume that I wore when I trick-or-treated for the very first time.  I wasn’t able to get her to wear the little pumpkin stem hat that went with it, but hey, I tried.   I’m thinking that the next Bennigson baby will have to wear the costume too.  Looks like I’ve already got a tradition in the making!

I hope you all have a great weekend doing whatever it is that you have planned!  Happy Halloween to all!

The Longest Week Ever

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It’s been almost a week since my last blog post and I’m beating myself up about it.  My goal is to try and post every other day, if I’m feeling inspired.  I’d hate to write just to fill the page to hit my personal quota.  I would much rather go without content for longer than I’d like, in order to feel like I have something I’m really wanting to talk about and share.  In today’s case, I have to update you all and let you know why I’ve been so absent!

As I’ve mentioned a few times throughout the last couple of weeks, we’re moving.  Now I can say “we’ve moved!”  Yay!  We are officially out of our old house and moved in with our new roomies – my mom and dad.  😉  This last week was kind of chaotic and most definitely would not have happened without the help from our families.

Here’s Gia with some great bed head, relaxing on bedding that needed to be packed up:IMG_0019

If it wasn’t for my father-in-law, and some of our friends, the grunt work of this move might have never happened.  Let’s just say they helped us move all of our crap into two, count ’em, two, storage units.  As of a couple days ago Craig and I were very seriously contemplating getting a third storage unit.  How asinine is that?!  Where did all this stuff come from??  We didn’t end up getting the third storage unit because the facility we are using is totally full.  I guess that’s a sign to start purging more of our things.

I’m so glad that we can get back to some normalcy in our lives now that we are in my mom and dad’s place for the next month and a half.  Gia had a fun time this week playing with both of her grandma’s while the Craig and I got things squared away with packing up.  G-girl had quite a few adventurous trips to the local park, as well as her first trip to the Nut Tree – – To this day I remember going there when I was little with my grandparents.  My grandpa even made me a replica of the giant rocking horses that they used to have there.  Don’t worry, I still have it stored away for Gia to use when she gets bigger.

Photo of Miss Gia having a blast at the Nut Tree:

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We ended our week on a really high note, celebrating our sweet friends, Sean and Jenn.  Craig and I had the pleasure of attending their wedding yesterday in Jenn’s parents backyard.  We had so much fun and thought it couldn’t have been a more perfect day.  Their adorable little girl Isla stole the show as she came down the aisle in her Radio Flyer just before her mommy (who couldn’t have been more beautiful) made her grand entrance.

Photo of the lovely couple after saying I do:

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Jenn and Sean looked fantastic and had a beautiful cake made by Wildflour Bakehouse, who I mentioned last week.  It was almost as stunning as the newlyweds!  Thank goodness Sean was a gentleman and didn’t shove the cake in his bride’s face after cutting into it.

Photo of the cake with signature macarons:

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As a sidenote, a few people have asked me this past week what the difference is between a macaron and a macaroon.  There is a BIG difference and I’m sure any pastry chef out there would cringe if someone called either of these treats by the wrong name.

A macaron is a meringue-based cookie made with almond flour, egg whites, granulated sugar and powdered sugar, then filled with buttercream, ganache or fruit curd.  It’s a delicate treat with a crunchy, yet chewy exterior.  To add the the confusion, it’s also called a French Macaron.

A macaroon is a totally different type of confection.  Mostly, this term is equated with a coconut macaroon, which is dense and moist.  It’s composed of egg whites, sugar and dried coconut, and sometimes dipped in chocolate.

I dunno about you guys but I like both!  I’ve never met a sweet treat I didn’t enjoy.

Speaking of sweet….I’ve got another pretty sweet collaboration going with a company based out of the UK, called Curly Ellie.  I found out about them through another mommy blogger who is based in the UK as well.  She has three daughters, all of which have beautiful curly hair.  I knew I wanted to try these products on Gia because taming her hair after bath time can be such a process.  Not to mention, I don’t want to hurt her little head getting those tangles out!

To make a long story shorter, I tagged Curly Ellie in a photo on Instagram with Gia in it, showcasing those curls in all their glory.  Curly Ellie said they would love to collaborate with me, as they mentioned how lovely Gia was.  I couldn’t agree more – obviously I’m biased!

I’m so excited to receive all of their products and try them out on Gia.  I’ll be sure to give you all a full report on what we think of them.  I might even try them myself.  After all, Gia did get her hair from me.  So for any of you mom’s out there with curly haired babes, stay tuned.  Or if you have beautiful curls yourself, you might want to think about looking into these products.  I hope they work wonders on Gia because I love discovering a brand or product and telling everyone about it.

I should also be receiving the leggings I got from the other company I’m collaborating with – Pineapple Clothing.  The shipping process has been delayed due to the horrible damage caused my Hurricane Irma.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people of Houston, Miami and Puerto Rico during these times.  May we all remember how lucky we are while others are facing such hardship.

To help efforts towards hurricane relief please visit the Red Cross.  There are many ways to help, donating through Red Cross is just one of those ways.

 

 

 

Happiness Is Your Hometown

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So, we’ve done it.  We’ve done the thing we always swore we would never do.  Yes, we consciously decided to live in the town that we grew up in to raise Gia.  In high school I remember silently vowing to myself that I would never move back to sleepy little Benicia.  Look at us now – we’ve sold our first home here and are in contract with our next.  Go figure.

Picture of downtown Benicia:

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When I was a teenager, specifically during my high school years I didn’t dislike my hometown, but I also didn’t have a lot of love for it either.  I was often bored because most of my friends lived over the bridge.  (I went to an all girls, Catholic high school.)  Actually, I should retract that – I wasn’t bored.  My time was always filled with softball practice after school, homework and late night hitting + catching lessons that sometimes took me as far as San Jose.

In my early 20s, after graduating college, I moved back in with my parents for a little while, which meant the return to my Main Street town.  After finding my way, getting my first real job and saving money, I booked it out of Benicia and lived in Walnut Creek – a place where I still like to spend time.  I lived there for a year and during that time, I found myself constantly gravitating back towards Benicia.  I don’t know if it was the fact that my parents were there, or that I was beginning to appreciate the friendly, small town I called home for almost all of my life.  (Maybe it was a combo of the two?)

Fast forward to the present….Craig (he’s also a Benicia native) and I feel like we couldn’t have made a better decision about settling down here.  We are within walking distance of both of our parents, are close to cities where we like to spend our free time adventuring, and we feel like we are truly part of the community here.

Photo of Gia trying to join the seagull community here in town:

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I think it’s such a nice feeling that I know all of the faces at my gym and I can say hi to them when I see them at the Farmers’ Market, or in the grocery store.  I love the fact that when I walk downtown with Gia, the security guard at the bank always goes out of his way to say hi, or ask about our day.  Some may not like that type of thing and think that in a town like this everyone is in your business.  I’m sure there is some truth to that, but I only see the positives.

These are some of the reasons why I’m so happy to be living in our hometown, raising our daughter:

  • Support events and local vendors – Benicia is always good for a Fair or Festival.  Yesterday I made a quick trip downtown to the Fine Arts & Crafts Fair that I mentioned on my Instagram.  Gia and I strolled up and down First Street, then picked up some YUMMY macarons from Wildflour Bakehouse.  (Go check them out and thank me later!)  I’m sure there will be another fun event here in town soon, but I don’t know when.  You can always visit the city website to see the list of happenings around town.

Picture of the Fine Arts & Crafts Fair:

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  • Reconnect with people who also grew up here – I can’t even begin to tell you how many people I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with or even reconnecting with since living here as an adult.  A lot of it has to do with my lifestyle and having a child.  I’ve gotten to meet other parents who want to get together and made great friends through my husband.  It’s nice to see that people other than my husband and I have the same idea of “coming back home.”
  • Gia will go through an “I hate this town” phase too – It’s pretty likely that Gia will go through the same phase that I went through, but if that helps her find her way through life then that’s fine.  If she one day chooses to move back here, then I will be happy knowing she went through a similar thought process to mine.  If she lives elsewhere, whether it be 15 minutes away or a 15 hour drive, it will also make me happy knowing that she’s content being there.

If you’re a resident of Benicia, comment and let me know what you love about our town! I’d love to hear about other cities as well.  Let me know what you love most about where you live.  As much as I like living where I do, I know there will be days where I will feel like my high school aged self and “hate it.”  Just remember to stop and smell the flowers on days like that!

Picture of Gia smelling the flowers at yesterday’s event:

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Move It, Or Lose It

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It’s hard for me to believe that Craig and I moved into our home 2+ years ago.  Before living in the house we own, we were renting a three story town house on the waterfront where we live.  I have to say, we loved that place!  It was so great because it was within walking distance to just about everything – restaurants, the local wine bar, the grocery store, parks and our gym.

After living in our town house, we knew eventually we wanted a home with a yard for our dog.  We also realized that three flights of stairs weren’t the best for a couple who knew that they would one day be adding to the family.  It was time to look for our first house!

We had a lot of support from our family during the house hunting process.  Buying a home, especially for the first time, is extremely stressful.  I found myself constantly wondering if we were doing the right thing by looking to buy at that time, which was 2015.  The housing market can be such a gamble, and I am by no means fluent in that area!

Some good fortune came upon us at the end of July, 2015, but we had our fair share of bad luck before that.  Craig and I had put several offers on homes in the town we grew up in, only to be outbid.  Our spirits weren’t as high as we wanted them to be, but after hearing a few stories from our friends and the experiences they had buying for the first time, we knew that we had to be patient.  A family friend of ours had told us they put 22 offers on houses before one was finally accepted.  That’s California for ya! Crazy, right?

During this whole process, we had become slightly obsessed with browsing the likes of Zillow and other similar websites.  One evening, as we were laying on the couch and glued to our phones searching these sites, we stumbled upon a beautiful home that seemed perfect for us.  Craig and I knew that if we wanted a chance at getting this home, we would have to act fast.

The following day we went to an open house for the property, but it wasn’t your typical open house…..the home owners were present.  At first I thought that was a bit odd, but it ended up helping us, not hurting us.

As you know, I’ve said I’m very close to my family, so it only made sense that Craig and I bring my parents and his parents to this open house.  Their opinions mean a lot to us and we wanted them to be included in this process.

You can probably sense where this is going…..yes, we fell in love with the house; yes, we put an offer on it; yes, WE GOT IT!  The couple who owned the home before Craig and I were moving to Lake Tahoe and wanted another family to live here who would appreciate the home as much as they did.  We came to find out that the wife taught Craig’s older sister, Michelle, in high school.  Not only that, the husband knew my dad’s high school football coach, a man who my dad really respected.

It was these little connections that really helped us stand out to the homeowners, and ultimately it helped them decide to sell the home to us.  We drafted a nice letter to them as well (icing on the cake), telling them that we wanted to start our family in this home.

Two years later, I’m sitting here in my first home, that I’m about to move out of, typing this post.  We kept our promise to the couple who lived here many years before us, and we started our family in this home.  This was not only my first home, but the home that we brought our sweet Gia to after leaving the hospital when she was born.

A big part of me is sad that we are selling our house because we started our little family here.  An even bigger part of me is excited to be selling it.  It means that we need more space for more fun and eventually, another child.

Although I’m not ready to have another baby just yet, the thought of it is wonderful.  Before we continue adding to the family we need to find our next house, which has proven harder than finding our first!  In the mean time, my awesome parents are letting us stay with them until we find our perfect next home.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the air, since we have no idea when we will find the right house, but I feel extremely fortunate to be in this situation.  We wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without the love and support from my parents and my in-laws.  They are always willing to help us, whether that means watching Gia for a couple of hours, getting us boxes, or sending us new listings to look at.

Family really is everything, and without ours, Craig, Gia and I wouldn’t be the people we are today.  We are so excited, and a tad scared to embark on this next chapter.  I’m mostly scared of tackling the situation in our garage before we move.

Stay tuned, and keep your fingers crossed while we continue our house hunt!