Life

Prepping For Guests

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As most of you know we have a new arrival at our house, a little girl by the name of Edith Mary.

While most summers Neil and I are off running the roads, traveling to different places and visiting people this summer we will be spending a lot more time at home. We also anticipate a number of guests to visit who are excited to meet Edie.

In preparation for the arrival of our guests I have been working on prepping the bathroom so that it is clean and presentable for our guests since they will all need to use to when they arrive. Why will the need to? To wash their hands of course!

Now that we have a little one around we want to make sure that our guests (and ourselves) have clean hands before touching or picking her up so that we can avoid her catching anything. I have picked up a new bottle of natural hand soap and although we have a cloth towel in the bathroom I am planning to have Kleenex Hand Towels available as well to keep things nice and easy. They are also great for us to be able to grab one when we need to quickly wipe our hands (or more often the spit up off our bodies).

My Tips For Prepping Your Bathroom For Guests:

  • Clean off counter tops. Keep your counters nice and clean, leaving out only items that are useful for your guests such as hand soap, towels and lotion.
  • Give your toilet bowl a scrub. You may not think anything of it but it really helps to make your toilet presentable for your guests so get out your scrubber!
  • Close the shower curtain. If you have a shower in your guest bathroom make sure that you keep it closed.  It hides away all of your shampoos and body washes and makes your bathroom look clean and presentable to guests.
  • Clean Towels.  Make sure you have clean towels out for people to dry their hands.

Who’s coming to visit you this summer, and what are different ways you prep your guest bathroom for various guests?

Join the 14 million people who have already joined the Clean Hands campaign by using Kleenex Hand Towels, and click here for savings and more!

I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.

Get Your Summer Satisfaction

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As a former 9-5er I know what a challenge it can be to enjoy all that summer has to offer during the week.  However there are a number of things that you can do to enjoy the longer days and warmer nights (and not just on the weekend).

  • Join a team. Or in my case have my husband join a team so I can go to his games. Often you will find adult recreational league sports teams and even many companies have summer sports teams to play on.  In our area you can find softball, soccer and even kickball leagues for adults to participate in during the week. Neil plays softball once per week and it’s a great way for him to get out, enjoy the weather and socialize during the week (as well as stay active).

  • Run clubs. Join (or start) a summer run club.  One of the greatest things about summer is that it stays lighter out so much later which allows for running outside to be more accessible after work.  Many athletic stores, running associations and even some towns/cities have summer group runs that are after work (and some before).
  • Farmers Markets. What better way to enjoy summer than to also enjoy locally grown food? Often we think of going to weekend farmers markets but did you know that many areas also have afternoon/evening weekday farmers markets? This is the perfect opportunity to get outside, do a little shopping and enjoy summers bounty!
  • Local Studios. Check out what type of summer events are happening at your local yoga studios or Lululemon.  In our area we have one studio that offers AM yoga on a dock at the waterfront and our local Lululemon has a number of outdoor fitness events that go on (and most are free).
  • Local Events Calendar. Check out your town/cities local events calendar to find out what fun summer events are coming up for the week/month.  Often you will find outdoor movie nights, carnivals, live music, brewers festivals and so much more.  Locally we have a movie night in the park once per month in June, July and August and every Thursday night there is Summervale a fun little event down at a local cooperative farm that features local food and lots of activities.
  • Eat Outside. Take advantage of the weather by dining al fresco!  You could plan to pack up a picnic to take to a park or down by a lake after work, head out for dinner at one of your favorite restaurants or make a home cooked meal and enjoy it on your porch (patio, balcony, lawn, etc). This is as great way to really enjoy summer and to create a fun dining experience for your whole family.

 

Q: What are you favorite ways to take advantage of all that summer has to offer?

Weekend Wrap Up: Showers and Dates

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How is it Monday already? We had such a busy weekend that I could use another day just to sit around and do nothing!

Friday we had our midwife appointment in the morning and then headed off to our designated jobs before meeting back up for dinner at American Flatbread. After dinner we headed to Neil’s Studio 54 themed work party for a short time but ended up leaving after being evacuated from the party tent due to severe thunderstorms.  We managed to get a little bit of socializing in and a session in the photo booth but unfortunately a certain soaking wet pregnant lady did not want to stand around the safety shelter and wait for the storm to pass so we didn’t end up returning to the party and missed The Village People (yes the REAL Village People), oh well!

Saturday we woke up early and made our way down to the farmers market where we made our first stop at the juice bar, which is new this summer and is our new addiction. We decided to go with two different juices to share, the minty lemonade and the strawberry rhubarb, both of which were really delicious.  We also picked up a load of veggies for the week including garlic scapes, greens, strawberries, herbs and radishes.

After the market it was time to head home and get ready for our baby shower!

After the shower we headed home to re-open all of our gifts and get them somewhat organized in the nursery.  After that we decided to have a date night out at Babies’R’Us and dinner.

Sunday we headed out to another market which wasn’t great but we did end up seeing our juice bar friends again and this time I ordered up a Green Energy and Neil a Runners Remedy.  After the market we picked up a few groceries and headed home for lunch before walking down to the beach, where we spent most of the early afternoon.

After spending a few hours at the beach we walked home and decided to use our free passes to the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. We decided to pay the extra and visit the special Our Body exhibit that is going on until September.  Our friends raved about it and it was pretty amazing.

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After ECHO we weren’t ready to head home yet so we stopped down by the waterfront to sit and have a drink and a snack before heading home to relax on the couch and eat strawberry-rhubarb crisp.

How was your weekend?