by Sarah | Aug 5, 2013 | 45 before 45, All About Me, Blogging Life, Bucket List
*I’m totally re-exposing my nerd status with this post, but I don’t care one bit.
When I was 12 years old, I was one of those girls…
With New Kids on the Block posters taped ALL over my walls. The pictures ripped out of magazines, the buttons, all of it.
One thing I never got to do that I always wanted to, was go to a concert.
Last night (thanks to the help of a twitter contest from Bohlsen Group) I got to achieve that life-long teenage dream.
Totally bucket list worthy…and so much fun.
Of course, it helped to go with a fellow big fan – Heather…who was my date since I didn’t wish to torture my poor husband.
Indianapolis was the last stop on the package tour, so we got to see BoyzIIMen and 98* (98-who? The crowd thinned out at that point for bathroom breaks, etc…both Heather & I had trouble recognizing anything beyond 1 song, I think).
The sound quality wasn’t very good (I even had trouble recognizing very well-known NKOTB songs sometimes)…but still, just being there and being able to clearly see these men on stage was amazing…
And I have to say – they have gotten BETTER with age. I’ve always had a weak spot for Joe Mac…but now? He’s totally on my list (sorry, Hugh Jackman, you are no longer the sole person on ‘the list’).
My 12 year old self is so happy with my adult self. Finally achieving a silly dream that still just made my year. Seriously.
One of the best concerts I have ever been to.
Bar none.
(my 12 year old self says it IS the best ever…she’s a bit biased)
by Sarah | Jun 28, 2013 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Clever Girls, Sponsored
We don’t road trip too often in this family.
You’d think maybe it was because the challenge of entertaining three children of various ages was tough.
Or because on her first road trip, Molly literally cried the entire 9 hour trip.
All 526 miles.
Non-stop.
Never sleeping.
Just…Crying.
You’d think that was the reason.
Or the regular stops for the bathroom.
Or the frequent cries of boredom.
Why on earth don’t they play car games like I used to?
Or maybe the gas money.
These days that one hurts.
Still, is it any of those things?
Nope…it’s…
This guy—>
The loving husband.
Molly gets her wonderful car trip joy from him.
More than an hour in the car and poor Erik struggles to remain calm.
Go over three hours and he’s in trouble.
So we have to figure out the best way to run.
Especially since road trips are so much easier than flights.
*~*
It took a bit of finagling, but we found the secret formula.
For the kids, it’s a good DVD player, and lots of movies.
The boy gets his tablet.
A huge supply of homemade trail mix.
For Erik?
Comfort and lots of space to stretch out and just fall asleep.
Even if it means three rows of seats, the teen next to me, and Erik fast asleep in the very-way-back by himself.
It’s a magic combination.
A normal care doesn’t cut it…so we’re on the lookout for something better.
We’ve got our eye on a Kia.
I like the Sedona, but Erik is anti-minivan…so he’d rather have the Sorento (and I’m apt to let him).
So long as it’s got a third seat, I’m a happy camper.
*~*
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
by Sarah | Jun 19, 2013 | All About Denver, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Autism, Blogging Life, Cystic Fibrosis, Hospital, Special Needs, Sponsored
With my first child, I never heard of cord blood banking. It was around, but I was young and trying to figure out how I was going to do this whole parenting thing, and it wasn’t a blip on my radar. With my girls, this childbirth thing was old hat, although the larger family freaked me out and I was worried about finances and our small home and all the little details. In both cases I heard of cord blood, I researched it (kind of), and dismissed it. After all, my kids wouldn’t ever be sick. Denver was healthy as a horse (I thought), and my other two children would be the same.
Hindsight.
Now that I have two kids with Cystic Fibrosis, a very young niece with cancer, and have a much broader view of the world thanks to blogging, I wish I’d made that choice.
Through cord blood banking, you can collect and preserve potentially lifesaving stem cells, and doing so could one day save the life of your child or a blood relative. You can bank even more stem cells by collecting them from 2 usable sources of stem cell-rich blood: the umbilical cord and the placenta. This service is called Placental and Cord Blood Banking, and it’s available only from LifebankUSA. Whether you choose Placental and Cord Blood Banking or Cord Blood Banking alone, there are many important reasons to choose LifebankUSA.
There’s only one opportunity to save your baby’s stem cells for the future…
As an expectant parent, your baby’s health means everything. Right now, he or she is protected in the womb and will soon enter the world. There is a lot to think about and prepare for, but an invaluable step you can take when your child is born is to preserve his/her stem-cell rich cord and placenta blood The ability of stem cells to save lives via cord blood banking has proven successful for replacing abnormal or diseased cells, and treating life-threatening blood disorders such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. In fact, since 1988 stem cell transplants have been used to treat some 80 diseases. No, Cystic Fibrosis isn’t on that list – but I imagine one day it will be.
I’m done having children, fate and biology means my body is no longer able to have them, but if I could, I’d bank the blood. I recommend it to those I know debating it. Sure, the odds of illness might be small – but then as I’ve learned, you just never know.
Today, LifeBankUSA is having a contest, and you can win a SpaFinder Gift Card worth $200. Just head over to Facebook to enter the contest. It’s super easy!! (All those links, and the top image on the page will take you to the contest!)
And seriously, consider cord banking. It’s worth it.
*~*
ABOUT LIFEBANKUSA
As the only company that offers cord blood, placenta blood and tissue banking — and the first to release placenta-derived stem cells for a successful transplant — New Jersey-based LifebankUSA is a technological leader that is pioneering key medical innovations in the field. Owned by the Celgene Corporation, a world-class biopharmaceutical company, LifebankUSA also operates a robust donation program and collects cells from anywhere in the US for use primarily in advancing medical research.
*~*
*Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by LifebankUSA. I was paid for this post, but all opinions are my own heartfelt truth. I never take my children’s health for granted, and you can’t pay me to lie about it.
by Sarah | Jun 11, 2013 | All About Indiana, All About Me, Blogging Life, Indiana State Museum, Indy Geek Girls, The Geek
I’ve had a lot of awesome geeky nights – which I won’t get into here – but a couple weeks ago I got stalked by a Wookiee.
I don’t know why that wasn’t on my bucket list.
Except I never thought it would happen.
I was fortunate enough to go to the midnight opening party for the Star Wars®: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit at the Indiana State Museum.
That meant being in the belly of the beast with fellow geeks, and a lot of them.
While there I got to have fun testing out some of the science stations. While building a moisture farm on Tatooine it began. While minding my own business, filming a video of what I was failing at, something touched my head. A drape of long fur covered my eyes.
Yes, I actually shrieked. But when I looked up and saw Tarrful above me, I laughed and got a bit giddy. Three more times the Wookiee found me and scared me, until I managed to get a hug with him (and then another with Chewbacca, because, of course).
While I can’t guarantee you’ll get stalked by a Wookie (or Darth Vader as my friend Heather was) – the exhibit itself is something to behold. There are three science stations where you can learn to build a droid (or learn that you suck at building droids like I did ~ahem~). You can build a mag-lev vehicle (out of legos!!). You can build a spaceport or a moisture farm on tatooine (unless you ignore directions like I did). You can even ride a hovercraft!
In between all the fan-friendly science games are real props and models from the movies. Among my favorites? Being able to look through the eyes of Vader:
Because seriously, how cool is that?
The exhibit is only $10 for museum members – or an additional $10 on top of your museum admission. The tickets are timed, and they let in 64 people every 15 minutes. You can stay as long as you like once in the exhibit, take all the pictures you want (I may have taken over 500-many of which I’m still editing) – just no flash.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that for another $5 you can go into the cockpit of the Milennium Falcon and take a ride through space (which is also awesome).
There is so much to see, that I’ve spent almost 3 hours combined in 2 visits and could spend another full day there without feeling like I’d seen everything. Scattered throughout the next few weeks I’ll be giving you more posts that go more in depth o the offered fun at the exhibit, from the displays to the science fun. I have to do it a little at a time – there is so much to offer!
For now I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the amazing exhibits…and the promise of many more pictures to come:
by Sarah | May 21, 2013 | All About Indiana, All About Me, Blogging Life, Indiana State Museum, Indy Geek Girls, The Reluctant Hoosier
I just spent my day at the Indiana State Museum with these guys.
People…I’m SOOO geeking out right now. You’ll get another post very soon about the exhibit itself…but really…
This geek is so very happy.
by Sarah | May 20, 2013 | All About Erik, All About Indiana, All About Me, Blogging Life, Sponsored, The Reluctant Hoosier, Vintage Indiana
GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. Winner has been notified
Erik’s a dry, I’m a sweet.
With our wines, of course.
Last year we were thrilled to be able to go to Vintage Indiana for the first time.
We were unprepared for the level of the festival.
There was so much to see and do, and so much variety with the local Indiana wines, we hardly knew where to start.
It’s a day full of music, food, and 30 Indiana Wineries!!
Fun fact: Did you know that this great state of Indiana has 69 wineries?? And a 70th is set to open this month?
Last year we were a little unprepared for the event. We didn’t bring a blanket to sit on, or have any idea what to expect. This year we’re going in full-barrel (get it? barrel? I slay me)…and preparing to take a longer day and enjoy ourselves and the line-up of awesome artists.
What artists? Well…take a look at this concert line-up:
12-2pm – Cari Ray
2:30-4:30 – Jennie DeVoe
5:00-6:45 – Josh Gracin – yes, THE Josh Gracin, former American Idol and US Marine!!
*~*
There is so much to do and see at Vintage Indiana, that you won’t be bored…not to mention that with over 300 wines to sample, you’ll have plenty to keep your taste buds happy. (Not a drinker? No problem, the Designated Driver tickets cost less and there’s food and music).
Kids? No problem. This is a child-friendly event, complete with a kid’s play area.
*
So how do you get there? Where do you find the tickets?
Here’s the details:
Vintage Indiana
Date: June 1, 2013 11AM-7PM
Location: Military Park, downtown Indianapolis
Tickets:
- $22 in advance at your Marsh Supermarket or online at the Vintage Indiana Website
- $25 at the Gate
- $10 for a Designated Driver Ticket (you will receive a special wrist band, and no samples-but unlimited soft drinks and water)
- $5 for kids age 6-20 – children under 5 are FREE
OR, you can win a pair of tickets right here!!
That’s right, I get to give one of my lucky readers a pair of tickets for the festival!
All you have to do to win this giveaway is leave a comment telling me if you’re a sweet or a dry.
I’ll pick a winner on Friday, May 24th at Noon. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or I’ll pick another winner.
*~*~*
*This post is a sponsored post. In return for writing it, I received two tickets for the festival. All opinions, and my love for Indiana wines and this festival are all my own.
Thanks to the Vintage Indiana sponsors for making this event possible!
Indiana Wines @indianawinebabe @indianawines
Indiana’s Family of Farmers @familyoffarmers
Marsh Supermarkets @MarshGrocery
Clark Appliance @ClarkAppliance
WFMS/WJJK @WFMS @ClassicHits1045
WISH/WNDY @WISH_TV
Indiana’s Turkey Farmers (no twitter handle)
Indiana’s Dairy Farmers @INDairy
NUVO @NUVO_net
When I was 12 years old, I was one of those girls…
