Kiwi Crate – runhappyblog

Hi all and happy Friday! I kind of skipped out on you guys during the week, so to make up for that I’m going over what I’m loving from the week. I have some really good upcoming posts I can’t wait to share, but I actually decided that I will wait to post them while I’m out of limbo (i.e.: moving to the new non-limbo blog space soon). That way I can watermark with the new name. And that’s partially why I didn’t really feel like blogging mid-week. I did have one lifestyle post that I did plan to share the other day, but then my program I use for blogging wasn’t sending the draft from my computer to the blog, so I said, screw it! So, there’s that! I just am feeling sort of detached from my blog space right now, although super excited for new things to come, so I’m sorry for the lack of enthusiasm, in the process.

Anyways, without further ado, what I’m loving…

Newly highlighted hair. I fiiiiiiiinally got my hair highlighted on Wednesday morning. I usually go every three months, but between the move and being scared to find someone new down here, I put it off an extra month. I swear ever since having Nia, my ash blond turns yellow so quickly. Not to mention I had nasty roots and split ends. Along with making it nice and blond again, I got a couple of inches cut off. I really like the girl I saw for my color (the cut was done by someone else), so hopefully, I have a new stylist that can keep giving me what I want!

I only have the ‘before’ picture for my hair. Go figure.

Grandparents arriving in town last night. My grandparents came back to Florida yesterday, so we asked them to join us for dinner at Seasons 52. We arrived there and even though we had a reservation, somehow our table still wasn’t ready for us 30 mins later, and my grandparents were nowhere to be found. We took a risk and left, hoping they wouldn’t show up.

Unfortunately for them, with delays at the airport (for baggage claim and renting a car), they arrived way later than anticipated, but we magically bumped into them at Whole Foods somehow instead. I’m so happy I randomly saw them, so we actually did end up eating dinner together! And this brings me to my next point…

Drinking while grocery shopping. When we arrived at Whole Foods, we placed the order for our pizza and then walked around to get some items. Also with the hassle of waiting previously at the restaurant, Tyler and I had magically aligned our thoughts on needing a drink. I think it’s the best invention ever to allow your customers to drink and grocery shop. Tyler joked that I’m going to start coming to WF every day now. He might be right. He also joked that when he’s drinking, it’s a better opportunity for me to ask him for items because he’ll most likely say ‘yes’ to purchasing them, haha.

Friends coming into town this weekend. My friend and her hubby are coming to Orlando for his work (a conference), but she almost didn’t think it was going to happen. Luckily, two days ago I got the confirmation that it’s a go. I’m reeeeeally looking forward to seeing her and spending some time with her. Plus, since my grandparents are now in town, they’ll be able to watch Nia if I just want to venture off with my friend, Mel, alone. We’re planning on hitting up some cocktails and then going to see Fifty Shades, plus suntanning, shopping, and hopefully I can convince her to do at least one fitness class with me!

Going to the island (Anna Maria) because the sis-in-law is also in town. As you can see, a lot of family and friends coming in all at once, which is amazing. I love it! Tyler’s sis, Carly, actually got in last Sunday, but since Tyler had to work last weekend, we weren’t able to visit with her until this weekend. I can’t wait to catch up – seeing as she was our roommate and all for almost a year, so to go from that to all this distance is heartbreaking!

A trip back home. And along with everyone coming here, I thought I’d balance the scale by making a trip back home. Nia and I are going back home over March break for 10 days. I’ve been struggling a bit with adapting (plus dealing with the lack of family support) and just need a breather at home. I love being Nia’s mom, but I also feel like I’m losing a bit of me with what I’m currently doing. And it’s actually that that’s so confusing – I don’t even know what I’m doing, nor, what I really want to do. I’m hoping the refresher at home will help clear my head, then I can come back and get into action. Also while we’re back home, the girls (me, my mom, Nia, and my two sisters) are taking Nia to see Disney on Ice’s Frozen. I cannot wait to see how she reacts to that!

As for Tyler? I’m hoping he’ll keep busy at work while we’re gone. In fact, the past four March Breaks when we were living back home, he actually ventured down here to his current work to run their March Break camps, so’s a seasoned vet by now. We’ll miss him though. He joked that I better not leave him for good, haha.

Becoming a yogi. This week made me feel like I’m morphing into a yogi since I attended not one, but two, hot yoga classes this week. On Monday, I tried out Bikram yoga and it destroying me is an understatement. The class was 90-minutes in 104 degrees F, and some of the moves were killer. I thought throughout the class I was pretty good, but it was the next day that got me. The teacher said it takes about 10 classes to get used to this style of yoga and I totally believe her! (I used my first ClassPass to attend this class!) Then on Wednesday, I attended my regular hot yoga class (60min power) with one of Tyler’s friends.

Nia’s Kiwi Crate. I mentioned it in a previous post about this little creative kit for children and Nia’s finally arrived. The theme of it was ‘colors’, complete with crayons, paint & brush, a dice, triangle cut-outs to paint on to make a banner, see-through color films (to overlap and teach about secondary colors), and a notepad with a color on each piece and an object relating to that color. I’m actually surprised how much they pack into that little box, and I was thoroughly impressed with it. Nia loved the painting, and I think my favorite part was how huge the crayons were, and they were non-toxic! I think I’ll try out another one for her in the near future!

Chia pudding. This stuff is so easy to make and tastes so good. I love the simplicity of it, and surprisingly don’t mind the texture (gag me if I ever have to drink one of those chia seed infused beverages again though – those are just nasty). I do:

1 cup almond milk
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1tbsp maple syrup

Shake in a mason jar. Let refrigerate for 30+ mins, then add fix-ins (frozen blueberries in mine this time), and enjoy. So super good!

That might be all I’ve got. I hope you have a lovely weekend!

What’s one thing you’re loving from the week?

Can I be honest for a second? When I was typing this post up last night, I was exhaaauuuusted. I love waking up early thing, but I really am done sometimes as early as 7:30pm. Nia actually came over to me lying on the couch last night and said, “mommy get UP!” Luckily she has the oomph to make that happen, but after the kid went to bed, I was blogging from the couch and not moving. I guess it’s a good habit to get in though…if I’m waking up with the sun, I probably shouldn’t be going down super late.

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to do a midweek post on some products I’m ready to try in the near future. I know a lot of people are taking to the “Friday Favourites” type posts, which I love, but I think it’s also neat to see products not yet tried, but could soon become a favorite. Here are a few I have my eyes on.

1. FABLETICS

I’m a big lululemon wearer, but as we all know: it is pricey. Granted, it is good clothing, but when do you say enough is enough with paying those prices? The answer for me is: when you have a well-established lulu collection and are looking for some new looks that lulu doesn’t currently have, for a fraction of the costs. I absolutely am crushing on the top above, along with a few other sleeveless ones, plus some pants. I just haven’t quite hit the ‘purchase’ button yet, but trust me, the desire is there!

2. COMPRESSION SOCKS

I’m still wondering how I haven’t tried compression socks yet! Isn’t everyone wearing them now? I especially want them just to see how it compares to all my non-compression sock running. It’s probably my driving force for wanting to test them out. I’m just looking for a super good deal on them because I can’t justify paying $50 for a pair of socks!

3. DISNEY ANNUAL PASS

Now that we live in Florida and super close to Disney, I thought it would be a good idea to get an annual pass. I’m thinking this needs to happen ASAP because children are actually free under 3, so I would only need to purchase one pass between the two of us, and we’d be good for nine months. I say ‘two of us’ because I was thinking about getting the cheapest pass option which is a select weekday pass (valid Mondays to Fridays, with blackout dates though) and since Tyler works during the weekdays, he won’t need one. That way I can take Nia whenever I feel like we need something fun to do in the morning/afternoons during the week…and because it’s where dreams come true. I hope they mean for adults, too!

This last one isn’t necessarily for me, but still…

4. KIWI CRATE

With so many personal box delivery services from clothing to make-up to pet-focused items, obviously, they made one for children. This one is an activity box (or as they call it, crate) with activities to engage your child and help them learn. They actually are designated to your child’s age; Kiwi Crate is the one for ages 4-8, whereas Koala Crate is for ages 3-4, so that’s the one I went with, figuring Nia is close enough in age. I’m not really the Creative Cathy like my former high school self was, and that’s why I decided I wanted to give this service a try. I ordered her first box last week and I’m anxiously waiting for it arrives. I’ll let you all in on what we get and how it goes when it gets here!

So those are just a few products I’m ready to hop on board with and try soon.

Anything you like above? Have tried? Ready to try?

Disclaimer: This post contains NO affiliate links. These are just products I am genuinely interested in trying out and would purchase with my own money.