A Real Woman Is...

PeachWave: Frozen Yogurt Bar in Norwalk CT

My sister has never been so my mom and I took a ride with her. This place is so amazing. I love the 

yogurt flavors and amazing toppings. From fruit to peanuts to chocolate syrup to peanut butter jelly cups- yeah I know where has this been all my life- to fruity pebbles and brownie and so one I can't list them all but there's even fun toppings  I never tried before until going there. Trust me there's something for everyone. My favorite is their peanut butter yogurt topped with peanut butter and Reese peanut butter cups. I know I know but it's so good! You can put a divider in it so the flavors do not mix. I even added cake batter and pancake mix with hot caramel on top- it tasted amazing. It's located on Main avenue in Norwalk.  The yogurt comes out so cold that it's refreshing. You pay per weight. Very reasonably priced. 

Of course we were good and went for a walk after- you know doctors orders. 

                       Before

                         After 

Look For Peace Fight For Happiness...It Will Come

Let go of the negativity and fight for your happiness that's when peace will come! 

Happy Sunday All!

What's on tap for your Sunday? Mine a little bit of church, brunch, girl time and hopefully hitting the gym. Which would make it my 4th work out this week. I couldn't make it to the gym yesterday so did Zumba on Wii with my Girls. The funny part is they kept saying ok Mom take the remote it's your time. So I would, think I was doing great and would get one star, ONE! They would get three. Mommy coolness fail! 

Regardless of what you do today do something for YOU!

Saturday Crafts With My Girls...Why I Do What I Do!

We hung home today. I told them to turn off their electronics and let's do something fun. I pulled out the crafts and before you know it I was regretting my decision. Water spilled, glue all over the table and their hands, markers more on their hands then the paper. After a couple deeps breathes and time outs my two year old said "Ma take a picture and send to my daddy...let's hang it up here". I smiled and knew that's why I do what I do. 

It's a mess, work, some screaming BUT it's the way their face lights up, the way they are proud of their artwork, the way they smile and days after walk by it and say "I made that". 

Being a mom isn't easy, lord knows I know, but it's the smallest things that can leave a major positive impact! 

Sometimes You Need To Be Your Own Biggest Fan

Four Years Cancer Free...Carry On

Driving to Yale New Haven Hospital and this song comes on and I just began to cry. I couldn't believe I left my newborn home and four year old to have my Thyroid removed from my body. It was awful, I didn't know if the cancer spread, I didn't know how much cancer I had. All I knew was my life was about to change forever. I will never forget walking into the operating room. "Just lay back, tilt your head back" I looked up and saw the lights and could see my reflection. This was it. God please don't let it spread, please let me be ok...



Four years later I am stronger then I have ever been. Even without a Thyroid, even after treatments, even after a roller coaster ride with medicine and levels.  I am a fighter, fighter for life, fighter for happiness. I beat cancer. I am strong, whatever next happens in my life I can handle it.

"Though I've never been through hell like thatI've closed enough windows to know you can never look back
If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone
Carry on
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground
Carry on"

4 Years Cancer Free...Grateful!

FREE Books In Norwalk April 1st 2017

Chocolate For A Cause Tonight at the Greenwich Hyatt

Time To Get Healthy

I did it, I went to the gym. Just putting on my sports bra was a workout. I grabbed the wrong one- you know the one from before my other two pregnancies and when I had a Thyroid. It was painful. I was sweating before even getting on a machine. I did workout for 25 mins. First 2 minutes were awful but after 15 I felt like I got my groove back. I signed up for a 14 day trail. I am super pumped. It's a process but I am ready to get "me" back. Ask me how positive I feel in the Morning after I find out how sore I am! Baby steps...baby steps!

 

A Virtual Bookkeeper Has Joined My Team

I am so excited to announce I have added a Virtual Bookkeeper to my team of Virtual Admins. It's such a rewarding feeling to watch my 4th baby grow into an amazing opportunity for people throughout the USA to work virtually. 

If you or your business are in search of any virtual support please contact me. We offer administrative, marketing, event planning, social media marketing and now bookkeeping services. What does "Virtual" mean? This means is we help small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the USA with support who does not want to hire a full time worker. We help our clients virtually from our home offices in all aspects of their business. For local business in CT we can come help you in your offices as well if needed. 

Just send me a message and we can  coordinate a time to speak mommyct2009@yahoo.com

It's About What You Become

Unleash Everything That Is Holding You Back

Sorry for all the swears but this is a strong message. We get lost in a lot of stuff in life that takes a hold of our happiness and inner peace. Such as money, relationships, work, conflicts, outside "noise" that we are chained to these stresses that prevent our inner peace and true self to shine through. 

Sometimes walking away from everything and saying no more breaks those chains and sets you free. It's not easy to do but it's very rewarding. You have to let your inner child come through. Your inner self. People always want you to be something else. They want you to be who they think you should be. No more. Break those chains. Free yourself. Yeah it's painful and stressful but to gain yourself back and happiness well that alone makes it all worth it!

Count Down Begins

Some people eat to live, I live to eat. As my daughter says "we are foodies" My last doctors appointment wasn't well. They upped my thyroid meds and she said let's see how much weight you can loose in 6 weeks. Ugh I haven't even started. Well I did stop snacking and it's now late at night and I am dying for something comforting to eat. Like heavy, chocolate, warm whatever. I know what I have to do but just haven't had the motivation. Things have been nutty and stressful so I have delayed my weight loss goal.  I promised myself I will hit the gym tomorrow night and hopefully it will strike up  some motivation. 

My sister joked she can see how much I will love it again and become addicted or turn to cross fit,  honestly I sure hope so. Nothing like doing the walk of shame into my doctors office and say I tried but didn't succeed. So as I plan my morning tomorrow I probably won't be walking into a donut shop for coffee but instead a granola bar or smoothie shop. I know I know it's just as good and life is too short not to be healthy. So to all you battling the same battles as me I feel your pain!

Celebrate Baskin Robbins on March 31st

Wednesday Motivation: Loved Waking Up To This

This is a reminder that you are control of your happiness. Sometimes it take a big change in your life to fight for your happiness. It may seem scary at first, confusing, stressful but then when you are at peace, pure peace, you realize that happiness is worth fighting for. 

Happiness Is Truly From Within Not From Anyone or Anything Else!

Recalls: Chicken Nuggets, Pasta, Toddler Food

Thanks Macaroni Kid for posting! Readers check out some recent recalls https://safety.macaronikid.com/articles/58d6283b05e04c1b92292830/recent-consumer-recalls-march-2017

What's Your Story?

You Are Capable Of Anything! Don't Ever Forget That!

Event Tonight At City Hall

Monday Motivation: Stop Thinking Just Live

What Keeps Parents Going...

Parenting Humor

Believe In Yourself

Kid Fest April 2nd at Stepping Stones Museum In Norwalk

Some Things Aren't Always As They Seem

All Moms Are Working Moms Whether You Realize It Or Not!

LulaRoe Party...Winner Two Leggings For Price Of One

I have avoided these parties for a while now. Not because I didn't like their stuff but because I didn't need anything else to be addicted to.  So my friend hosted a pop up and of course I went to show her some support. I tried on a couple of stuff and got entered into a raffle. Some leggings were super cute but when I tried in the design stretched out a little too much so went with the least crazy design. I had to leave before it ended and before a raffle winner was picked. 

I was torn between two designs and joked with my friends if I won the raffle then grab me the other pair. Sure enough I get a text that I won. It was meant to be. So if you haven't heard of these parties before they are a huge trend happening. They now have a kids line and even some men items. The leggings are super soft and comfortable.  Prints super cute, a little crazy some of them but add style to moms. The catch is they only print a certain number of each item and that's it. Then new inventory comes out and styles to choose from. It's like a pop up clothing store. I am excited to wear my two new ones and just hope this isn't a new must have for me. 

Save The Date: Tag Sale Saturday April 1st

Endometriosis Worldwide March 2017

Today we wear yellow in honor of those suffering from this terrible disease. There has to be more recognition for this disease that affects millions of women. No one should have to live in pain! Help find a cure!Wear yellow today in support of those marching around the world! 🎗💛

Jersey Mikes Gives Back March 29th Save The Date

On March 29th 100% of all  Sales will be donated. 

Be sure to go buy a sub for a cause!

https://www.jerseymikes.com/

Wakeman Town Farm Event Tonight In Westport

CT Guide To Easter Fun

The Easter Bunny Is Coming!!! Great guide for Easter Fun " 2017 Easter Egg Hunts, Events & Celebrations" https://danbury.macaronikid.com/guides/58b9b27315a4fa3b11bfafb1/2017-easter-egg-hunts-events-celebrations

My daughter and I having some Easter fun last year 

Nothing In Life Is Easy But Work Hard Now & Rewards Will Come

25 Desserts You Must Try In Fairfield County: Did Your Favs Make The List?

Oh man, when I can across this article all I could think about was sending this to my sisters and mommy friends to start our next adventure: adventure of trying these places we never tried. As you can tell I am a foodie and dessert is one of my weaknesses. This list is pretty spot on.

Fairfield County is full of amazing dessert options. These places are super unique and stand out from your typical simple dessert. Did your favorites make this list? A couple of mine did and for the rest I am super excited to go give them a try!

Article: 25 Epic Desserts to Eat in Fairfield County Before You Die https://spoonuniversity.com/place/epic-desserts-in-fairfieldcounty-to-eat-before-you-die

Egg Hunt Tip: Fill Your Eggs With These Cool Items

I am a HUGE Easter lover. It's one of my favorite holidays. I always put on a huge egg hunt. I invite family and friends with little ones. I fill hundreds of eggs with stuff and bake all fun Easter items. I provide booze for the adults and juice boxes for the kids. All parents have to do is bring a basket. Mostly everyone brings a snack or dessert too. Which is nice but I normally have more than enough. It's so much fun to watch the  kids hunt for eggs and I try to take a picture of each kid proudly holding up their baskets. I usually tell everyone to get 10 and meet me on deck. Once every child has 10  I tell everyone to go search for the rest. It's so so so much fun!

My friend sent me this article. It's perfect!! Yes. candy is not the only thing you can hides in eggs.

100 Things To Put In Easter Eggs {That Aren't Candy!} http://totallythebomb.com/100-put-easter-eggs-candy

The Granola Bar in Westport CT

My sister wanted us to come for a breakfast Birthday for my niece. We wanted to try someplace new and I kept seeing posts about this place. We normally spend our Thursday's in Westport since we have our kids gym class so we are always looking for new places to check out.  I am a huge fan of granola and yogurt so was super excited to try this place. The smoothies are so fresh and natural. No artificial flavors. We got a couple of yogurts and egg sandwiches. The wrap with spinach, egg whites and avocado was amazing. At first I thought would taste too healthy so we also got the bacon egg and cheese but it was actually my favorite. The avocado is like a healthy option of mayo. Creamy and adds so much flavor. The yogurt was super fresh and again not sweet or overbearing we got their honey cinnamon granola over the parfaits. I love love love banana on top. Adds a natural sweetness. Check them out!

The Gronala Bar http://thegranolabarct.com/

Sharkey's In Westport Kid Friendly Hair Salon

Sharkey's in Westport is an awesome kid's hair salon. The place is full of color and cool cars for the kids to sit in. They have tv screens everywhere and balloons. It's like a huge party place to get beautified. My sister asked us to come with her to bring my niece for her first haircut. Even though I did cut her bangs before cause they were driving me crazy. 

It was perfect because it's right next to our kids gym, Kidville, so they played then we went next door. Staff was great, they let my daughter sit in the jeep with my niece while she got all dolled up. Was super cute. They even do manicures for the kids after their haircut- we didn't since my niece is a bit young and already all the excitement tired her out but such a cute place. Great staff and great deal! Located on the post road.  http://www.sharkeyscutsforkids.com/Westport-CT

This Isn't Easy...But A Good Reminder

Farmers Market In Norwalk On Thursday

Wishing You All A Day Of Zen

It's That Time Of Year Again...Thanks Doc!

I went to see my Thryoid Doctor Today. "Lets make it to the five year mark please you have one more year and then I will be happy" she says to me reading my labs. After having Thyroid Cancer they give you a mark of 5 years to get through cancer free to decrease the risks of any cancer coming back. I have 1 more year, April 1 2018 will be my 5 year anniversary. So this year is huge for me. 

Problem is my levels have been awful  way downfrom 6 months ago which makes me in "hypo" mode. "Let's see what changed she said. Your weight changed." Oh great I thought  just great!  She said I had to loose weight, sleep more and increase the dose of my meds. All boring stuff I know. But really she's right. I put on seven pounds in less than a year. That's a lot, I mean some thryoid pateints can gain that in a month but still. The more weight I am the higher the does I will need so here's my plan...well I don't really have one yet but here's my goal. I have to see her again in 6 weeks and well it gives me 6 weeks to show her I mean business.  I have to have some sort of plan to loose weight within that time frame, so limit my carbs and increase my exercise and sleep. Like before 11:00 be in bed, like now I should be sleeping but am not. So with this all said I have a BIG change ahead of me and it's all worth it right to be healthy, cancer free, here for my kids and family and loved ones. I know feel like crap some days and achey. 

So welcome my blog posts of pushing healthy on you too cause you didn't think I would actually be doing this all alone, right?!

Always Be Aware Of Your Surroundings: Momma Bear

I took my little one to the store this morning. It wasn't busy at all and we took our time going through. About midway I noticed a guy acting funny around me. He had a book bag and no groceries or a cart. Whenever we made eye contact he would smile and turn the other direction, and distract himself. I started to feel a little on guard. Now there are workers throughout the store so you do feel safe and an older couple near me the whole time. We make our way through and I begin to notice he's acting stranger and stranger. My daughter is in the front of the carriage and my purse is in my carriage. Our jackets are over the groceries.

Maybe he's one of those secret shoppers I thought and move my jackets to below, no longer covering the groceries. I thought about going to the security guard but say to myself if he is at the exit when I leave I will ask them to walk me to my car. Now if I was alone I wouldn't be so on guard but since my two year old was with me I became extremely uneasy.

We get to the end of the store where they sell hot food. I place my order and notice he is still hovering around. I ask the older couple if he was with them. The woman said no but said he walked in same time with us so probably just making his way around with us. She kindof seemed short and annoyed like I was assuming this guy was going to do something wrong. Ok I respond. Just then he comes very close to my daughter. I turn around and ask him if I can help him with something, not in a nice way and he shakes his head. I said listen you keep hovering over me throughout the store and I don't appreciate it. He nods and walks away.

I am now on fire. Momma Bear mode has kicked in.  I can totally take his guy on. He's my height and not very heavy. I calm myself down and head to check out. The whole time I am scoping the store for him but he's gone. I order my daughter an ice cream and have her eat outside the store in an area. No sight of him. He's completely gone.

Now should I have gone to security? Probably but I was so in defense mode that my focus was to make sure this guy didn't see some oblivious mom shopping with her child.

Be aware of your surroundings! This is something so easy NOT to do especially with the distractions with a child or cell phone. This guy walked through the whole store and didn't buy anything. I do not know his intentions and thinking about it truly ticks me off but moms please, especially when you are with your child, be cautious of your surroundings. And if you see something or someone makes you uncomfortable say something to them. I totally think me not being so nice made it clear to this guy to back off.

The Little Mermaid Jr Playing In Greenwich

Tickets go on sale March 31st. 

www.BGCG.org 

Even When The Snow Melts You Can Find Beauty In It

What Makes You Feel Alive?

Sometimes You Just Need A Break & That's Ok

A couple weeks ago I couldn't get out of bed, no matter how many times I tried I couldn't. All I wanted to do was sleep. It was so not like me. I am full of energy. I schedule plans all the time. I like to keep busy, try new places, work. I run on 5-6 hours of sleep and usually when I feel run down self medicate and take Tylenol and I bounce back. Not that day. I wasn't bouncing back and it was a little scary. 

My mom even called and asked why I wasn't responding to texts. I am sleeping. Oh no what's wrong she asked. I didn't even know!

It was like I could relate to when they say someone was depressed and just can't get out of bed. Now the week prior I threw my daughter a party, had a lot of major projects at work to complete and attended a couple meetings for school and a board I am on. So yes it was a busy week but I crashed. I mean hard. I stayed in bed until 9:00 am then crashed on my couch. What's wrong with you my husband asked nothing I snapped I just want to sleep, I need a break. So I finally got up cleaned up breakfast gave my little ones a bath then crashed again. I got up paid my taxes and my husband said take the afternoon off and do what you want. I just want to sleep I said and that's exactly what I did.

 I took a four hour nap. I just didn't want to face the day or anything else. My body kept saying "nope" whenever I got up. It was pretty awful. Luckily my mother in law kept the little ones for the night and after I woke up I watched a movie with my oldest daughter then slept another seven hours through the night. I woke up and felt guilty. Like wow I wasted my weekend in bed but it wasn't a waste. See we need a time out. Pushing ourselves always isn't a good thing. It kindof scared me to think that I could have just kept sleeping. I didn't even care to eat. I just wanted to escape the world and sleep. Of course I woke up feeling good but there are still days I wake up and day "not today" and don't want to face the day. Thank goodness those moments are slim but those moments teach me it's ok to not always be happy. It's ok to not always do for others. That day I needed to take care of me. Something I hardly do. That day my body said "slow down girl" and I had no choice but to listen. 

World Down Syndrome Day Is Tomorrow March 21st

Be sure to show your support. "We are all Different and that's Beautiful!"

Palmers Market In Darien CT

I finally stopped in this place today with my little one. I kept seeing awesome pictures of their items and hearing about it. It's a super cute place with a fully stocked grocery store with an awesome bakery, great deli counter, a large selection for their fish market and gift shop all wrapped into one. Oh and don't forget florist shop. We stopped in to grab a couple of items and left with lunch and dessert. This donut was less than a $1 and we split one in the store and went back to buy another, that's how good it was. The tortellini pesto salad was delicious and my little one loved the vegetable soup. 

It is located directly across from  Noroton Heights Train Station. Check it out! Palmersmarket.com