Flip It!

June 28th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (15 Comments)

As usual, I was up before the rest of my crew this morning. I jumped on my bike and enjoyed this beautiful morning on a 70 minute, 15.3 mile ride. I am so grateful the warm air is here again.

Back home to find the house was still quiet. Ahhh. I enjoyed my breakfast cookie and coffee in peace. The silence was broken just as I was finishing up.

breakfast_cookie_628

Little did they know I had a fun surprise in store for them this morning!

flip_it

This a called a Flip It Pan. DuPont and Teflon sent us this pan to try out to see what we thought.

The bottom part of this pan is interchangeable, and the one we were sent definitely has a 4th of July theme with the American Flag!

Part of the reason I agreed to do this was because I knew the girls would LOVE it. Not only because it made pancakes, but also because of the American flag! This could not have been a better dish option for us, the timing was perfect. Ava is currently OBSESSED with the American flag. She loves spotting the American flag when we are out and about, in front of stores, homes, in books, magazines, anywhere!

It’s amazing the things you take for granted as an adult. She points out every American flag she sees. And oh boy, let me tell you it is everywhere! Even Maxine can recognize it now and points it out too.

Since Ava will be “missing the bus” this fall and we’ll be officially homeschooling, it’s always fun and reassuring to see the things they take an interest in and we try and take full advantage of these teachable moments whenever we see them.

Ava always listens and remembers the little tidbits I share about the American flag… I keep it to things a five year old will find interesting and understand. Red, white and blue, 13 stripes, 50 stars, why there are 50 stars, what’s the name of our state, states we’ve visited, states we have friends and family in… it’s easy to see how one little thing can lead to talking about so many other things.

But back to our patriotic breakfast this morning and our fun American flag Flip It pan, we got out the ingredients for pancakes and got to work.

I prefer homemade pancake batter, and it was only a year or so ago that I realized I could make pancakes at home, from scratch, without pancake mix. I’d much prefer to do it this way. I can control the ingredients, there’s no added preservatives and chemicals to keep the mix stable on the shelf.

Here’s the recipe we used today:

1 1/2 c flour (I use 50/50 white flour and whole wheat flour)
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I use kosher)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 c milk (I used organic 1% cows milk)
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp canola oil

My girls, like any other little kid I know, LOVE to help in the kitchen. There’s so much opportunity in for learning in the kitchen. Math, science, hygiene, health, sharing, cooperation, and today, a little American history. 😉

girls_cook_1 girls_cook_2
girls_cook_3 girls_cook_4
girls_cook_5 girls_cook_6

Once our batter was ready, the girls watched as I poured 1/2 cup of batter (per the instruction for the Flip It Pan) into dish of the pan. Cooked until it started to bubble and the sides looked a little firm, and then FLIP!

flip_it_1 flip_it_2
flip_it_3 flip_it_4

american_flag_pancake

This pan made it so easy to make pancakes, plus the pancakes turned out very soft and fluffy, better than they usually do when I make them in a frying pan. I didn’t even have to use a spatula, the pancake falls onto the skillet part of the pan once you flip it and then it easily slides on to a plate from there. I swear that I made much less of a mess today than I usually do when I make pancakes!

The results?

breakfast

Disappearing pancakes!

I’d already had breakfast of course but I did try a couple bites and these were so soft and fluffy. American flag or not, this is a great pancake making pan!

I see in the instructions that you can also make omelets, grilled cheese, french toast or even crepes! I smell American flag grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch this week. 😉

Lucky for you, DuPont wants to share the Flip It Love and I’ve got the opportunity to do a giveaway! If you want a chance to win one of these pans, leave a comment on this post with something you love about pancakes, the 4th of July or the American flag. 😀

I’ll announce the winner on my Monday evening post, hopefully leaving plenty of time for your pan to arrive for any 4th of July pancakes or grilled cheese sandwiches you might want to make. 😉 Kids or no kids, this is a great little pan!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Bottomless Pit

June 27th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Life - (8 Comments)

I’m happy to report that my questionable run this morning was fabulous! 10.8 miles in 1:37:54, a 9:00/mi pace. We did a 6.5 mile loop and stopped back at the running store for water, and then went for another 4.3 mile loop.

Between loops, my friend Shawn and I snacked on a couple of these guys.

sport_beans

My pace group went on to do another 4 miles after that but given my last long run a couple weeks ago was 9 miles, I decided that even though I was feeling good, I wasn’t going to push my luck.

The fastest pace group they had was 9:00 miles. That’s definitely slower than I wanted to go but knew that slowing down a bit was probably a good thing. I kept feeling like I wanted to take off and run faster during the first mile but then I surprisingly settled easily into our pace. I think my boat load of green veggies and my slower pace are both responsible for how amazing I felt today. I had tons of energy and felt great through the whole thing. It was also really nice to have some company too, those solo long runs can get lonely!

On my drive home I ate half of this Clif Bar, and decided I’d run a few errands too since I was child free.

clif_bar

Once home, I dove head first into lunch.

Lunch Sandwich sammy_2

A veggie sandwich on whole wheat bread. A laughing cow wedge, romaine, cukes and roasted red pepper.

Then I put my feet up to drink some green and read!

green_twilight

I swear these green smoothies are like dessert. So sweet and creamy! Today’s was made with the last of the spinach, a big chunk of firm tofu, banana, mango and a few splashed of hemp milk.

An hour later I was hungry again. Must. Eat. Something. Another hour, hungry again. Eat. Hour. Hungry. And on and on for about the next 4 hours or so.

banana_granola brownie
apples abdates

I forgot how relentless my hunger can be after long runs! And that isn’t even everything. There were there were also unphotographed pretzels, heart to heart, fage…. bottomless pit is a good way to describe how I was feeling.

We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the house together. Around 5 we headed out on a family walk/ride to the playground. Maxine and I fell behind and we let Zak and Ava go on ahead.

playground_ride

Our playground ride soon turned into a playground walk (and tricycle carry).

playground_walk

Then a playground hop.

playground_hop

Eventually the blue eyed ones managed to catch up with the brown eyed ones.

caught_up

just_max anz

Time to head home. Is that a salad on my head?

shadow just_maxine

No, just a tired Maxine.

Dinner tonight was a pair of His and Hers crack wraps. I whipped up some garlic hummus and promptly smeared it into a flat out wrap, wrapped up and grilled lightly with olive oil until heated through. I usually add cheese but left it out of the wrap today today because we were having avocado on the side. I didn’t even miss it.

sat_dinner

The photo shoot took place in the dining room for the light, but we really ate dinner at the table in the kitchen where all the cool kids hang out.

wheres_cheese

That would be Zak wondering why there was Parmesan cheese on my steamed veggies and not his. He’s even saying “Cheese!” as I snapped this pic.

I think Zak said “This is so good” about 10x during our meal. Sometimes the best meals are the simplest ones.

And a happy ending.

green_black

But even sweeter than that is two sleeping children and Season 1 of 30 Rock on DVD on a Saturday night. Suh-weeeet!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Questionable Long Run

June 27th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Fitness - (3 Comments)

I’m going to this group run but have no idea how far I’m going to today. Well, maybe “No Idea” isn’t completely accurate, it’s probably somewhere between 8 and 11 miles. I guess they have groups and have a variety of distances to choose from.

I’m wondering what this is going to be like. Should I bring water? My ipod? Is there a bathroom nearby before we start? Maybe I should have prepared a little better for this. Oh well here we go.

Pre run fuel:

Kashi H2H Waffles. Who needs syrup when you’ve almond butter and bananas? And some Fage with fruit and granola.

sat_breakfast

+ coffee

sat_coffee

ACK it’s almost 7 and I’m still looking for one running sock that MIA I’ve got to goooooo!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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White Gloves and Basset Hounds

June 26th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Good Reads - (7 Comments)

This one’s for you MJ.

mj

You don’t know the lengths I had to go to for this pic.

First, I had to dig out the white glove from the bin of winter stuff.

Then I had to set the timer on my camera.

THEN I had to hold the camera between my chin and my chest.

That’s how much of a Michael Jackson fan I am. Rest in peace dude.

Now how do I segue into the YoBaby giveaway winner? I guess I’ll just jump right in.

Andrea from Andrea’s Wellness Notes!

YoAndrea, send me an email at mamasweeds@gmail.com and we’ll get you hooked up!

Speaking of YoBaby (this segue is a little smoother) I used a little container of the YoBaby Banana to make my chocolate overnight oats last night.

625_breakfast

Yes, there are oats under that pile of bananas, granola and almond butter.

Holy creamyness batman! Except after I’d mixed it all together I realized like a fool that I usually don’t make overnight oats with a half cup of yogurt! (The amount in each of those little containers.) I usually use a quarter cup!

OK shut up, who the hell cares about an extra 1/4 cup of yogurt but no wonder they were so good the last two overnight oats mornings. Whole milk and extra yogurt. Overnight delight.

But before my creamy dreamy breakfast came my far from dreamy run. 4.2 miles in 34 minutes. Two minutes slower than usual. Two extra minutes, big whoop. But I was dragging. My legs felt like lead. With yesterday being a rest day it was actually the last thing I expected.

My conclusion? I didn’t eat any green vegetables yesterday! Minus the whole avocado split between lunch and dinner (that totally doesn’t count as a green vegetable in my mind) and a few green peppers slices while I was dicing up veggies for lentil tacos…. no leafy greens yesterday.

No green monsters, no salads as big as my head, no lettuce on my sandwich. Nada.

After I read The Skinny this spring I made a serious effort to make sure I had greens everyday and I really noticed a difference in my energy levels, especially on my runs.

Could it all be in my head? Maybe. But it didn’t even occur to me until I more than half way through my run cursing every step. Will I eat a head of lettuce today? Most definitely.

I sold our bike trailer last night on Craigslist. I’ve got to go get that ready to be picked up shortly. Ava’s too big for it and Maxine is not a really fan of riding in it, so out it goes.

bike_trailer_2

For the record, if you ever see a woman riding her bike with a 45 lb basset hound in her bike trailer, there’s a good chance she bought that trailer from me.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


Who Are You Talking To?

June 25th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Late Night Craziness - (10 Comments)

Sooo… yeah.

sleepy_max

Barbie stamps rule.

sleepy_closeup

As do freshly baked Rosemary rolls.

rosemary

And avocado tomato open faced sandwiches. They rule too.

lunch_624

But aren’t you forgetting something? That can’t be all you’re gonna eat. What about some protein? And something sweet. Maybe crunchy too?

dessert_624

OK I guess that will work.

So what about dinner? Why don’t you do something with the rest of those lentils you made yesterday?

peppers_onions_624 lentil_tacos

Oh yeah, lentil tacos! Good thinking. How do you make those? Just some cumin, chili powder, roasted red pepper and paprika? You don’t say…

OK then, tortillas? Or rice?

lentil_pile

Brown rice! That Holly, she’s full of good ideas!

So what about something sweet?

no_pudge vanilla

Brownies made with only yogurt?? No kidding? That’ll get some attention.

ab_brownie

That looks really good but how can you call those “No Pudge” brownies if you smear almond butter on them?

This is one weird post. I’ll never understand you girl.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Listen to the Silence

June 25th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (6 Comments)

Today is a rest day as planned. Although I’d like to believe I might squeeze in some yoga this afternoon, but I know how that goes. Translation: it usually doesn’t.

What is it with my gang waking up only to go back to sleep these last two days?

sleeping_max

She actually had a low grade fever of 100 when she got up with me at 5:30 this morning. That’s just how the spit flies. Kids are so good at sharing the things you don’t want them to.

In other news my personal quest to avoid this little bug stay healthy is right on track. It’s hard to type and knock on wood simultaneously. It much easier to type and jinx yourself at the same time.

I enjoyed a quiet, peaceful breakfast at my desk while I worked on a variety of items.

deckfast_cookie

Still loving my breakfast cookie, call me a creature of habit! Last nights combo was 1/2 c oats, heaping tbsp of almond butter, half a smashed banana (the other half from last nights cereal dessert), flax and a few splashes of unsweetened vanilla hemp milk.

breakfast_cookie625

Breakfast typically holds me over a lot longer on the days I don’t work out. Say it with me now: obvious! But I’ve come to learn that’s not always the case. I no longer ignore my hunger or think “I’m not supposed to feel hungry yet!” After reading Intuitive Eating this winter, I’ve learned to honor my hunger and eat when I’m hungry, whether it “makes sense” to me or not.

Last year when I losing weight I definitely did not always honor my hunger, I ate according to the clock. That was no problem when I was in weight loss mode, it was working and watching the scale go down was enough motivation to power through another hour until my next meal or snack. The trouble came when I got to maintenance mode. Ignoring my hunger and eating on a schedule would often lead to over eating, especially at night, unable to hear my fullness cues because I was ravenous.

No one ever tells you that losing weight is only the first part of the journey. Maintaining your healthy weight while also being happy and feeling satisfied is a completely different animal.

So here’s to always honoring your hunger and eating when you are truly, physically hungry… whether you think it’s “time” to eat or not.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Curried Lentil Burgers

June 24th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (10 Comments)

My day was quite productive! Mainly due to this:

morning_nap

My poor honey was still feeling pretty puny this morning, she got up only to come downstairs and sleep all morning.

Maxine enjoyed her freedom and ruled the roost!

ruled_the_root

After my productive morning, I got down to the business of dinner. At lunch time.

I told Zak I was going to make lentil burgers for dinner tonight. I make homemade veggie burgers all the time but have yet to try them with lentils. He said curry might be good in them, so I went with it!

In fact, I thought curried lentil burgers sounded so good I made it for myself for lunch! I was simply doing my part to protect Zak, just in case it didn’t turn out right. 😉 I cooked up 1 cup of dried brown lentils in 2 1/2 cups of water for about 45 minutes.

I only used about half of the lentils this made, maybe 2 cups? Mixed with (approx):

1 cup of tomato sauce
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 c oatbran (I would have used whole wheat flour but I’m out!)
1 c cooked corn

lentil_burger_mix + patty =

624_lunch

Curried lentil burger with provolone, pickles, mustard, lettuce and tomato and with a side of steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and mushrooms, topped with a bit of parm.

I whipped Zak up a burger with plenty of left over burger goop when he got home, and a couple of salads too. This would be Zak trying to persuade Ava (who perked up around lunch time) to come out and eat with us and the bees wouldn’t sting her if she didn’t bother them.

dinner624

And that’s Maxine reaching for the ketchup. No stinkin’ bee is gonna keep Maxine from the ketchup.

Since I had my burger for lunch, I doubled my side salad and called it dinner. Red leaf, tomatoes, tofu, cashews, apples, feta cheese, mushrooms and 2 Tbsp of Miso dressing. Why yes, I did measure it out, thanks for asking. It’s too easy to go crazy with salad dressing without realizing it!

salad_624

I saved my grains for dessert!

cereal_dessert

H2H, granola and banana!

Ava and her xray bee vision asked me to take a picture of the small bee hive behind me.

bee_hive

We usually knock these suckers down with hose, and I will tomorrow. If I got the hose out at dinner time I would surely be unable to resist the urge to spray Zak.

And no judgement! I love bees as much as the next environmentalist but I’ve got little kids for crying out loud. I simply use the hose to gently encourage them to build their hives elsewhere. I’ve got lots of flowers in my garden to make up for a little hose on hive action.n


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Pantry Dinner

June 22nd, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (12 Comments)

We hit a new park and playground today, to meet up with some homeschooling friends for a Summer Solstice gathering after lunch. Ava drove us there.

Ava and Maxine at the Park

And then if letting her drive wasn’t enough, she tested my adrenal glands again.

rock_wall

OK so it wasn’t really THAT high but I did find myself holding my breath until she got to the top.

Up Top

Blood pressure returning to normal.

We hit the grocery store for a few essentials (OATS!!) and they entertained themselves in their usual fashion while we went through checkout.

books at Wegmans

They actually BEG to go in the “No Candy Lane” so they can read while they wait.

Dinner tonight goes in the category: Use What We Have in the House

So tonight that meant enchiladas!

Step 1: Shred cheese.

Organic Valley Cheese

I prefer to shred my own cheese for a few reasons. For one, it’s cheaper. Well, minus the fact that I’ve been buying organic cheese lately and it already costs an arm and a leg, but hey! It’s still cheaper than pre-shredded organic cheese. I’m also more stingy when I shred my own, which saves me money and calories too.

And it’s just not the same if you don’t get a little skin from your knuckles into the pile as well.

Shredding your own cheese also saves you from the fun *stuff* some companies put in to pre-shredded cheese, to keep it from caking together while it’s on the shelves. It only takes a few seconds and is worth the added step for what is saves you in the long run.

Hmmm, anti-caking agent or skinned knuckles? Pick your poison.

Step 2: Assemble enchilada!

put_them_together

A whole wheat flour tortilla, a couple tablespoons of spicy, vegetarian refried beans, and a sprinkle of frozen cooked corn, canned (rinsed and drained) black beans and a sprinkle of cheese.

I also use a little smear of refried beans to seal the tortilla together once I wrap it up.

I would normally make five of these guys, but I only had four tortillas left. Topped with your run of the mill enchilada sauce from a can. Make your own enchilada sauce if you’re so inclined, but today I’m changing my initials to BPA.

Into the Oven

Step 3: Into the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes.

I was too hungry to wait the 40 minutes for brown rice when I realized I hadn’t yet started the rice, so long grain Basmati white rice it is. It’s completely possible that my subconscious mind wanted white rice.

enchilada

Served with less than a 1/2 c of cooked rice, some salsa on the side, and some homemade guacamole. I whipped it together while waiting for my four guys to bake. A fork smashed avocado I snagged at the store today, mixed with minced garlic, salt, lemon juice and a diced tomato.

Step 4: Eat.

Zak wasn’t home in time for dinner, per usual, so instead I had dinner with Samantha and the rest of the Sex and the City gals.

Dinner with Sex and the City

And for a little something sweet, about 100 calories worth of dark chocolate.

Green and Black 70% Dark Chocolate

I’ve got to give the chocolate chips a break for a while. I finished up the bag and they are currently on the “do not buy” list. I always want to eat them on a graham cracker smeared with almond butter, making my “little post dinner dessert” cost me way more calories than I really need. I think I’ll be OK cutting back to a mere 2 servings of almond butter a day. Really.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Momcation

June 19th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Good Reads - (8 Comments)

As much as I wanted to run this morning, I have to make today a rest day because I’m leaving on a little Momcation for the weekend and have a TON to do this morning before I leave.

1. Cook

a. garbanzo beans for hummus
b. two days worth of overnight oats

2. Clean

3. Laundry

4. Pack!

a. Books
b. Running Sneakers
c. Everything else

Part II of the *cough*REAL*cough* reason for a rest day is because I am hobbling around like an old lady thanks to Jillian and her work on my Trouble Zones yesterday. The chair squat gods are pointing and laughing at me.

So yes, I am taking off on a childless adventure to the cottage up north for a grown up girls weekend away. I’ve been day dreaming about this for last two five years. No kids. No men. Just me, Zak’s mom Kath and his Aunt Pat. Only us. And a book about Vampires.

twilight

I’ve heard people squeal and shriek about Twilight but I’ve been none too interested. Vampire books usually aren’t my thing. But after enough rave reviews from people with similar tastes in reading material, I decided it was worth a summer read and I picked it up let my mom buy it for me. (Thanks mom!)

This morning was a breakfast cookie made with yogurt! I usually don’t put yogurt in breakfast cookies, but I was putting it together on auto pilot last night while writing a mental to do list for today. I figured it’s not like I added gasoline by mistake so I just used a little less milk and called it a cookie.

Plus a cup of organic Green Mountain coffee and a glug of organic 1% milk.

Friday Breakfast Cookie friday_coffee

My cookie tasted a little different and was definitely softer, but it still disappeared.

And now the girls are off with Aunt Ellen today until Zak gets home from work and is on duty all weekend. I thought was an appropriate way to celebrate Father’s Day. 😉

girls_with_ellen

Bye girlies! See you Sunday.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


Operation Beautiful

June 18th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Motivation - (8 Comments)

Tonight I thought about sharing one of the best ways to re-heat pizza.

reheat_pizza

Or growing my own wheat grass.

tall_tall_grass

But instead I decided to post about Caitlin’s totally inspiring, sweet idea over at A Healthy Tipping Point.

She calls it Operation Beautiful and it’s catching on. She’s been leaving post it notes in restrooms, elevators and other public places for other people, other women, to see.

After reading some of the great notes women were leaving for themselves, their friends, coworkers, strangers, I was motivated to grab a pad of post its and a sharpie as we headed out the door for the library this afternoon.

I left two notes.

One on the mirror of the bathroom of the children’s restroom, up high for all the mama’s in there to see!

childrens_restroom

I know I’ve looked in that mirror more than once and silently criticized myself.

You need to exercise more.

You need to eat less.

You need to stop returning library books late.

I thought of another spot in the library I’ve stood and felt less than great about myself too.

In front of the stacks in the Health section.

Today I looked through the book shelves and picked out one of my favorite books, Fit From Within. I flipped through until I found an appropriate chapter and left a note for the next person to find.

fit_from_within

As I was writing my note, Ava watched and asked what it said.

I told her, “It says, ‘You are beautiful'”

“Who’s beautiful?”

“You are!”

At least I’m sure I spread the message that you are beautiful to one girl today. Maybe even two. 😉

And oh yeah, re-heating pizza in a covered frying pan is the best. On low, for about 5 – 7 minutes.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.