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New House
08.09.12

New House Update/Organized Binder

This week has flown by as fast as the rest of this summer!  I can’t believe school is going to start in a couple of weeks – I know some of you have started already.  Didn’t kids just get out of school!?  Crazy how fast the days fly by.  Anyway!  Popping in to share a new house update.  We’ve been busy this week trying to figure out furniture placement in a few rooms because we had to tell our builder where floor plug outlets should be located.  Kenny and I may have had a fight minor disagreement over said plug outlets which amused us greatly the next day.  Seriously!?  We were arguing over plug outlets?  Yes my friends.  That is what building a house does to you.  It certainly won’t be the last time we disagree about something concerning this house.  The good news is that we have become champs at getting over disagreements in record speed.  That is what being married for 15 years does to you.  :)
I took the framing crew some banana bread muffins yesterday.  They loved them!  Those muffins are always a hit.  Which is a good thing since that’s pretty much the only thing I know how to bake.  We declared it our first breakfast in the new house.  :)  Can’t wait to have the crew over when the house is finished.  For banana bread muffins again of course.  Here are some pics I took of the lot last week…

Lots of trenches and underground pipes for plumbing!  Is anyone asleep yet?  
No?  Well then here’s a few more pics that I just took today…
This is the left side of the house and the pop out in front is Kenny’s office.  It will be a happy day when he doesn’t have to take a client call in our car in the garage.  :)  To the right of Kenny’s office is where our front door will be.  We have a porch with a front door and two doors coming off the sides of the porch – one into Kenny’s office and one into the mudroom (by way of my beloved dutch door!). 

A view from the left side of the house.  
A view from the back left corner which is our master bedroom.

Left side of the house again (guess I was too lazy to walk around and take any of the right side).  

View from the right corner of the house in front of the garages.  We have a gas trench inspection tomorrow and then hopefully by the end of next week they will be laying the foundation!  YEA.

 Ok.  So now you’re asleep.

:)
Let me wake you up with this fun binder I just bought.  You’ll never guess where I got it.  

That’s right my friends.  I had to go back to Staples!  Those office supplies by Martha Stewart have been calling my name ever since I bought my purse organizer.  It’s hard to see in this picture, but the binder has such a cool texture.  I also picked up some fun tabs and something else I’ll share in another post.  :)

I love this binder.  I love the color.  I love the thick side pocket… 
 I love the easy to open/close latch at the bottom of the rings. 
But I didn’t buy this binder just because it was so fabulous (although that is totally something I would do).  I actually really needed something to hold all of my ever-changing sketches for the built-ins for the new house.  It was getting too hard to view them all on my computer.  Plus I wanted to make notes directly onto the paper.  My cabinet guy and I are e-mailing back and forth almost daily making tweaks and changes to things and I needed a better way to organize everything.  
This binder is perfect!  

I used the yellow tabs for all of the closets, blue for all of the bathrooms, and green for everything else. Now when I need to find the sketches for a certain room it is so much easier to locate them!  This binder takes me to a really happy place.  :)

The pocket on the left has been perfect for holding miscellaneous papers/notes of things I want to remember.  There is so much to remember!

And here’s a peak of one of my favorite sketches…

This is a bird’s eye view of my scrapbook room/office.  I keep tweaking things in this room and it still isn’t finalized.  Can’t wait to move in and organize this space!  I’ll share more pics of these sketches at some point.  Unless the majority of you are more drowsy now than you were during the dirt pics.  Kenny has a funny way of instantly falling asleep whenever I bring up our built-ins.  Such a multi-talented man I married.

:)

Happy Thursday everyone!  
xoxo, Erin
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Kole
08.07.12

Trick #347

The ol’ blog is off to a slow start this week my friends.  You see, lately my organized spaces aren’t looking so organized…

And I am feeling a bit… hmm… how should I put it?
Oh yes.
 Exhausted.    
 It seems a certain someone…

 has been up to his usual tricks.  

 And is wearing his mommy OUT.  
All I can say is it’s a good thing he has learned to say “love you” and blow kisses my way at bedtime.
[Trick #347 – act sweet to mom at night before bed in an attempt to make up for the complete and utter chaos and destruction I created throughout the day.]
If I don’t post again until this boy of mine starts Kindergarten, (or if I die from exhaustion before we get to that point) you’ll know why.  
I have a feeling a few of you out there can relate.  
Enjoy your day!

And with the help of some extra strength tylenol, I’ll enjoy mine.

:)

xoxo, Erin
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fashion2
08.03.12

Fashion Friday – favorite make-up!

It’s Friday!  And we’re talking make-up today!  Can I get a WOOT WOOT!!  So.  I’ve had these pictures ready to post for months now.  And I kept putting off posting them because I was going to try to take some pictures of what this make-up actually looks like on my face.  But I have been wearing very little make-up this summer and on the days that I am getting completely ready, I’m too busy getting everyone in this house ready to stop and take pictures.  But by now you’ve seen enough pictures of me on this blog to get an idea of what my make-up looks like anyway.  :)  And really it’s nothing that special.  I’m not an expert on this subject, but I do like to try out new make-up.  After years of sampling lots of different brands and colors, these are my favorites!  My go-to’s that I wear every day.  Every day that I actually venture out of my gym clothes and get ready that is.  :)
**Quick tip before we start:  Make-up can be really expensive once you leave places like Target and Wal-Mart.  If you want to splurge on some nice make-up but don’t know where to start or what to buy, the best thing to do is to make an appointment to get a makeover.  The makeover is usually free as long as you buy some make-up so if I know I need some new make-up anyway, I love to get a makeover to try out new products.  (I’ve always done this at Nordstroms but you can get makeovers at most big department stores.)  And DO NOT feel like you need to buy everything the make-up artist tries on you.  They work pretty hard to sell you as much as possible, so hold your ground and only purchase the stuff you really love and know you will use.  One thing I’ve gotten really good at over the years when it comes to make-up is learning to say “thanks, but no thanks.”  :)  I’ve linked to most of my favorite products if you’re interested in checking them out.   So here we go!
My two favorite brands of make-up are MAC and BOBBI BROWN.  I’m slightly partial to BOBBI BROWN, but love both brands and would absolutely recommend their products.

My make-up brushes are a mix of both brands.  It’s a pain to pay for make-up brushes, but I would highly recommend buying some nice ones.  They make a big difference when you are applying your make-up and as long as you take care of them, they will last for years.  (Post on washing make-up brushes here.)

First thing I apply on my face everyday is sunscreen (I’ll share my favorite sunscreen at some point!  I forget to take a picture of it).  Next is foundation.  I LOVE Bobbi Brown foundation.  I’ve tried lots of different brands and this one is my absolute favorite.  Aside from great coverage, it just seems to give my face a nice even glow.  “Sand 2” is the shade that looks the best on me.  I have very fair skin, so obviously find the shade that matches your complexion.  This stuff isn’t cheap, but a little bit goes a long way and this bottle lasts quite a while.  I once made the mistake of asking Kenny to pick me up some new foundation on his lunch hour because I didn’t have time.  He came home that night and said “ERIN!  Is that how much you’re paying for this stuff!!?”  So now I ask for new make-up a lot for my birthday, Christmas, etc. Takes the sting out if it’s a gift.  ;)

I also really like Bobbi Brown’s tinted moisturizer.  It’s a lighter foundation (not as good of coverage as the foundation above) but it still gives your skin a glow and offers a little sun protection.  I use this the most in the summertime.  (For some reason the Amazon price was a lot higher than I paid for this in Nordstroms so check out your department store first if you want to try this.)

Switching over to MAC, this is their Strobe Cream.  I got this in my stocking last Christmas and have really enjoyed it.  It’s a cream you apply over your foundation and it sort of brightens your skin giving it a little extra pizazz.  I don’t wear this every day, but it’s fun to apply for special occasions/date nights.

This is probably my favorite product hands down.  It’s Bobbi Brown’s eye concealer and it’s FABULOUS.  You have probably noticed from my blog post times that I’m a bit of a night owl.  You also know that I’ve had a baby or toddler for the past eight years.  Sleep deprivation has become my norm.  I have learned how to function on little sleep (it’s the only way I get anything done!) but my eyes have paid the price.  I wake up to terrible, dark circles under my eyes every morning.  Bobbi Brown concealer to the rescue!  I just apply a bit of the cream under my eyes and then cover it with the powder and wa-la!  I suddenly look like my pre-kid self!

If you decide to try this I would totally recommend getting the touch-up brush that goes with it.  It applies the cream so evenly.  I love it!

In my last Favorites on Friday post I shared my love for “Painterly” by Mac.  Foundation for your eyelids.

Just use your finger to rub a little on your eyelid and it keeps your eyeshadow looking great all day long.  No more creases!

This is Bobbi Brown’s “Graphite Shimmer Ink” gel eyeliner.  It is dark black and I wear this under my eyes and on my top eye lid. I would have never bought this on my own, but the last time I got a makeover at Bobbi Brown they put it on me and I was surprised by how much I liked it.  It has more of a dramatic effect so I don’t wear it everyday.  Just for special occasions when I’m really trying to clean up.  You have to have a small, thin brush to apply it.  It goes on so smoothly and it’s easy to create a thin or thick line (whatever you prefer).  I think this would look good on everyone!

For everyday eyeliner, I use either “Prunella” by Mac (it’s a dark brownish purple color) OR I just apply some of my eyeshadow in a really thin line below my eye with a special “eye definer” brush.  I tend to use the Prunella the most often because I can put it on so fast.  I love the way my shadow looks, but it takes more time to apply.  I usually have 5 minutes or less to put my make-up on so I tend to stay away from anything that slows me down!

My all time favorite eye shadows are the two to the right in this picture:  “Satin Taupe” and “Shroom” by Mac.  I have been wearing these colors for YEARS.  I try new colors all the time, but I keep coming back to these.  I put the Satin Taupe on my bottom eye lid and the Shroom on the top.  These are both really neutral colors that would look good on a lot of skin types.  I bought them for my mom and she has been wearing the same colors and loving them ever since too!  Mac eyeshadow has such a fun sparkle to it.  I was trying to find a picture of me that shows these colors and remembered I have a close up of my eyes closed in this scrapbook layout:

Not the best picture, but we’re all about the eyeshadow today.  :)  You can see how the Mac eyeshadow has a bit of a sparkle/shine in it.

My blush is “Cubic” by Mac.  I like it, but I’m not in love with it.  I want to try something new as soon as I use it all, but this stuff won’t go away!  I do love Mac’s blush brush though and have used it for years.

This is another fun Mac product that I LOVE.  It’s their clear brow set gel and it keeps your eyebrows nice and neat.  Crazy eyebrows drive me nuts!  I love applying a bit of this each morning.  My eyebrows stay looking perfect in place all day long!

 

Let’s talk Mascara!  YES!  Use an eyelash curler!  I know a lot of people don’t, but this makes the biggest difference for me and my eyelashes.  Just ten seconds on each eye with an eye lash curler and my eyelashes are curled up and SO long.  Sometimes if I’m really rushed, I just curl my lashes and don’t even put on the mascara and they still look so much better.  My favorite eye last curler is the top silver one by Mac.  You can buy one that looks the same and is cheaper in Target, but the Mac curler has more of a spring in it or something.  It works better and is totally worth the extra 10 bucks.  I also love this lash curler by Laura Mercier.  I read about it in a magazine (it was voted the best eye lash curler in a contest).  But again, it takes me a little longer to use so I find that I grab my silver Mac eyelash curler most days.

Ok.  I’m stepping out of department store make-up and into Target for my ALL TIME favorite mascara.  EVER.  I have tried SO many mascaras.  Seriously. I think I’ve tried them all!  And my go to LOVE is Maybelline Define-a-lash.  I love all Maybelline mascaras, but I think this one is the best.  It makes my lashes so long and I can easily apply more and more if I’m going out and want my lashes super dramatic.  No clumping.
Here are a few other mascaras I’ve recently tried.  They aren’t as good!  I haven’t found anything I like as much as my Define-A-Lash by Maybelline!  In my opinion, even the more expensive mascaras don’t compare.

I replace it about every three to four months (3-6 months is recommended for replacing mascara).  I kept putting my old mascara in my cupboard after I bought a new one thinking that I’d keep it just in case for a back up.  Last time I cleaned out that cupboard I realized how many I had stashed away!  HA!  I tossed them after taking this picture.  :)

As far as lipstick goes, I was on a quest for years to find a shade I loved.  I tried many Mac lipsticks and they were all fine.  But my favorite?

Bobbi Brown’s “Plumberry” lipstick with their “High Shimmer Lip Gloss” (Bellini 14) on top of it (pink bottle).  The Plumberry is dark, but with the lip gloss over it, it’s such a pretty color!  Also in the above picture is my Bobbi Brown “warm sand” touch up stick (foundation in a stick).  These three things (the touch up stick, lip stick and lip gloss) are what I keep in my purse.

This picture is from a couple of years ago, but this is the lipstick combo.  It’s a fun splash of color!

Bobbi Brown’s shimmer lip gloss is super expensive, so for day to day I substitute it with other lip gloss like these from Bath and Body Works.  I especially love “Brown Sugar.”

So there you go!  My favorites!  I know these colors won’t work on everyone (if you have fair skin and freckles, you’re hooked up!), but maybe this post gave some of you an idea of something new to try next time you’re shopping for make-up.  It’s always fun to discover new products so if you have a favorite when it comes to make-up please share in the comments!

Now go forth and look fabulous!
And while you’re at it, enjoy the weekend.
:)
**affiliate links used

 

xoxo, Erin
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organization2
08.01.12

Organizing Inspiration/Ideas!

 I’ve had so much fun dreaming up ways to organize everything in my new home!  My Pinterest “organizing” board is just brimming with fabulous ideas that I can’t wait to implement!  Here are a few of my organized spaces along with some “pinspiration” for my new home.  These are all great ideas that any of us can adapt to our homes to make life run a bit smoother.  And who doesn’t want that?

As far as my current garage goes, I’ve figured out a system to keep shoes/coats in check.

I’ve even found a way to organize all of those pesky loose nails and screws.

But. I’m loving this …

What a great way to store holiday decor and other miscellaneous items!  Plus those bikes!  Bikes take up so much room.  Hanging them like this is such a fabulous space saver.

My kids have a lot of bath toys so the best current solution for us is using clear bins that stay under the bathroom sink.

But in my next house when Kole has his own bathroom, I want to copy this fun idea!  Hang a decorative bucket to hold bathroom supplies.  I think something like this would be perfect for a handful of bath toys!  You could hang it right by the tub.  Stylish and functional.

Currently I keep all of my cooking utensils corralled in a kitchen drawer.

But I’ve always loved the look and and simplicity of keeping them close to the stove.  Especially when they are grouped with similar utensils in fun jars/pitchers on a tray.  Lovely, useful kitchen decor!

You all know I love an organized closet, but there’s one thing that my closets are missing…

a bin to hold clothes that don’t fit!  What a smart idea!  Clothes that are a bit big I will just leave hanging up, but I love the idea of having a set place in each closet for clothes that are too small that need to be passed on to another child or donated.  That way when your child puts something on in the morning and it you realize it’s getting snug, you have a place to put it.  Every few months you can round up the “too small” items from each closet and head to Goodwill or give them to a friend.  Brilliant.

If you’ve read my time management binder post you know I’m a big fan of sticky notes.  Huge fan.  I use them every single day.  I love them.  I really do.  Here are a couple of similar ideas of ways to use sticky notes to stay organized. You know.  In case you are a fan too.

Keep your notebook/binder divided into two categories: things that are pressing (you need to do them immediately) and on the other side, things that can wait a week or two.  So easy to move the sticky’s from one section to the other and then toss them when you’ve completed the task!  Love it.

I also adore this idea of hanging days of the week tabs somewhere in a central location and then attaching a sticky note or piece of paper with your to-do list for the day.  Such a great way to see a week at a glance!  Is this making anyone else giddy!?  :)  Not yet?  Check out this idea:

A rotating goal or to-do list with… you guessed it!… sticky notes!  Oh the JOY!  I am so in love with this idea too.  Don’t be surprised if in my new house my scrapbook room/office is full of organized sticky notes!  I want to implement every one of these ideas!

I’ve also been thinking about how I will display my kids’ art work in my next house.  Nothing makes me happier than a wall full of artwork from my little ones.

Aside from the kitchen, I also display art in our upstairs playroom.  These boards from Pottery Barn are fun, especially for big, colorful art projects, but I want to have a place in my next house that we can rotate the daily school work my kids bring home.

This is a great idea I’m considering.  Using clipboards would make displaying and switching out school work a breeze!  A perfect way to hang that math quiz or spelling test.  I love that the clipboards make it easy to change the work weekly or even daily.  Moms know all about the insane amount of school work that comes home each day!  It would also be cool to have a clipboard for each child and he/she could decide what gets displayed and for how long.  Plus it would be a fun DIY project to spruce up the clipboards so that they coordinate with the room they are hanging in.  All sorts of ideas are popping up from this picture!

My girls’ bows and headbands are currently stored on this ribbon in their bathroom.  It’s working great except for one tiny problem…

These aren’t even half of my girls’ headbands.  Now one solution would be to get rid of some headbands and stop buying more.  But let’s not be silly.  As long as me and Addison are around that’s not going to happen.  :)  I’m hoping in my next house (which will thankfully have more storage space than my current one) I’ll have room to keep all the headbands in a drawer in the girls’ bathroom.  But if not, here’s another great solution…

CLEVER.  This is just an oatmeal container decorated in fabric.  Such a creative way to organize headbands!  Plus it would just look cute sitting on the bathroom counter.

Currently Kenny and I each have an “inbox” where I keep all of our time sensitive papers that we need to deal with.  I keep them on this shelf in a closet under our stairs.  I love that our paper mess is out of sight.  I also hate that our paper mess is out of sight!  It makes it too easy to forget about!  Here is a fun idea to keep mail and important papers in the kitchen without looking too clutter-y…

Paint the buckets or baskets to match the colors in your kitchen and now your papers are not only in sight, but you’ve also created a stylish addition to your decor!

Not long ago I shared my newly organized craft cupboard – love it!  It is working so well for us.  I’m also a fan of this system for organizing arts and crafts for kiddos…

The nice thing about setting up something like this is that you are able to keep certain items (paint comes to mind!) up high out of little ones’ hands until you can assist.  :)

Our star charts have been a fabulous way to keep behavior in check over the summer.  Once school starts, I’m going to change the goals.  They will include a lot of the same items on this fabulous back to school clipboard:

Things to complete after school!  Homework done, backpack/lunch ready for the next day, clothes laid out, bed on time.  Perfect!  What a great way to help kids be accountable for each day’s school prep.

Well!  I’m in a good mood!  First of all, this post makes me SO happy.  I love finding new, fun ways to organize my home and life.  I’m also thrilled that our darling American girl gymnasts just won the gold!  Oh my word!  I started to cry!  I’m so proud of them.

** Sidenote:  They won right about the time I was typing about sticky note organization so my tears may have been tears of joy for more than one reason.  :)

Happy Organizing!  
xoxo, Erin
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Mom Adventures
07.31.12

Lazy Morning

We are still in our pajamas.  No therapy.  No new house meetings.  No camps or scheduled summer activities.  Just the whole morning to be lazy and do what we want to do.  My favorite.  I made the kids waffles.  El reminded me that they don’t taste as good as when daddy makes them, but I’m showing some improvement.  
Then Addison became a spooky ghost and scared us all.  
Now we are off to tackle the girls’ rooms.  
 This pile was all on Ellie’s bunk bed.  Seriously.  Have a toy El.  

And this is the contents of Addison’s pajama drawer.  
Only one of the ten clothes drawers we are sorting through today.     
Most of their stuff is too little.  :(
Also found in Addison’s pajama drawer.  Hmmm.  
Seems Ellie isn’t the only toy hoarder.  
 Luckily the dolls are ready to pitch in and help.  
Now I just need to get off this computer and get started.
I’m totally stalling, can you tell?  
Maybe the mess can wait a bit.
I’m thinking we should head to the gym instead.
I need to work off the waffles I just ate.
Plus the shrieks coming from upstairs are telling me that Kole needs an outing.  
It’s so cloudy on the coast right now.
But any minute that sun is going to pop right out.  
It always does.
:)
Enjoy your day!
xoxo, Erin
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Addison
07.30.12

Fun weekend and fruit dip

FUN weekend.  Lots of play and little work.  I’ll pay for it tomorrow (the laundry alone!), but it was worth it.  I got to spend Friday afternoon at the park with a friend I danced with in college and haven’t seen since.  She was in town visiting and called and I’m SO glad she did!  I loved catching up with her and meeting her cute kids.  Two girls close in age and a two year old little boy.  We are living parallel lives.  :)  It was SO fun to see her again.  I didn’t take a picture (I have been awful at taking pictures this summer!) but we had a great afternoon.  
The rest of the weekend included get togethers with two other families we love to hang out with.  First a little pool time!  I finally learned the secret to getting Kole to stay put in the pool instead of just running around it.  
Good old Thomas to the rescue.  This boy of mine loves his trains.  
I love his trains too.  They allow me at least five minutes of down time.  
I’ll take it!
Best friends and their dads.  
Our other fun get-together was a BBQ at a friends house.  They made the most delicious meal I think I’ve ever had!  Seriously!  Great food.  Great company.  We didn’t want to leave.  So we didn’t!  We all hung out so late.  I think it was the latest my kids have ever stayed up!
My contribution to the amazing meal?  Not much.  My cute friend insisted on making everything aside from a fruit salad.  So I made my fruit salad and I also made some fruit dip.  I thought I’d share this SIMPLE fruit dip because it is seriously so good.  And so simple.  Did I mention that already?  That it’s simple and good?  Because it is.  
Whip together:

8 oz cream cheese (softened)
7 oz jar of marshmallow creme
2 teaspoons of Maraschino cherry juice

You can see the dip in the purple bowl on the kids’ table next to my fruit salad.  It’s light pink and it’s delicious!  Not the healthiest, but a summertime hit nonetheless.  

Table for the kids.    
 Table for the adults.  I loved the fresh sun flowers!  
A few more pics from the evening — 

What kid doesn’t love a slip-n-slide? 
Kole was in absolute heaven.  

I think his trains have met their match.
Makes me so excited to have a yard!  This boy and his mom are more than ready for one.  
p.s.  Is anyone else a nervous wreak watching the Olympics!?  I get so stressed during the events (especially girls gymnastics).  My hands start to sweat just watching them!  I can only imagine what their parents must feel like!
p.p.s.  Happy Monday.  :)
xoxo, Erin
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Music
07.27.12

Old Gym and Quotes, New Kicks and Music

I’ve talked about my exercise routine a lot on this blog.  Mostly about how I try to prioritize one.  I’ve also mentioned how my “routine” is constantly changing depending on my current “kid” situation.  (I’m clearly in the mood to “quote” tonight.  Don’t know why but it’s “amusing” me.)  Well my “routine” has changed again.  (K – I’ll stop now.) 

Last time we discussed exercise I was walking/jogging with Kole in his jogger, but once summer hit and the girls were home that plan flew out the window!  So two weeks ago I re-joined my old gym!  And I’m so excited about it!  I know.  Gyms usually aren’t that exciting.  But this gym is a bit sentimental to me.  It’s the same gym that I spent 45 minutes in  each day for years when my girls were little.  It’s the same gym that saved me from having a mom meltdown each day while Kenny was working long new attorney hours and I was depressed living away from family.  It’s the same gym that helped me lose my baby weight after I had each of my girls which also helped me feel good about myself again.  It’s the same gym that I made a lot of new friends in (mostly with the people who work there).  It’s the same gym that gave me sanity!  And lots of good blogging material.  Here are a few times my gym came up in past posts: 

I had such a great “mom moment” this week. One thing I love about my gym is that I can see into the windows of the kids club (where my kiddos play while I workout) from the treadmills. Every once in a while while I’m exercising I see the top of their heads running around. Last week I saw them run by and for the first time, Addison looked up and saw me through the window. She got so excited and she ran to find Ellie and they both stood there waving and blowing kisses to me with the biggest smiles on their faces. I started frantically waving back and blowing kisses to them and everyone on the treadmills lining both sides of me were looking at me like I was a total idiot. I didn’t even care. For some reason it just hit me and I was so overwhelmed with love for my two girls. I got a little teary eyed and just thought about how much I love them and how much I really do love being a mom. It was the highlight of my week. (Now I just need to remember that moment the next time they paint all over my carpet)

So I love zoning out and letting my mind wander. Something about the random randomness of my thoughts always makes me happy. I tend to zone out at various times throughout the day. (Often happens whenever Kenny starts a discussion including words like taxes, finance, or bills) Some may call this being spacey, but I like to think my mind is extremely complex and always needs to be in motion. :) This happens whenever I’m on the treadmill, which is why I like treadmills so much. A few random thoughts during this morning’s jog…
Is today only Tuesday? ….I have GOT to call and find out what I need to do to get Ellie registered for Kindergarten ….wait – today is Koni’s b-day! Crap. Forgot to send a card. Why didn’t I write that on my to-do list? Oh yeah, I did. I just didn’t read my to-do list….I wish I looked like Natalie Portman….thank goodness for this song (So What by Pink) because it’s the only thing keeping my feet moving right now….I need new gym shoes….is American Idol on tonight?….I should wash sheets today….my new camera is probably too big to carry around with me everywhere….wish I knew how to wink….why am I thinking about winking?….love it when my mind wanders….I should put this as a good thing on my blog.


I’m fond of the scales at the gym. They’re like big, fun toys. I like to move the black thing back and forth trying to get it to balance. I’m not fond of the way my i pod always seems to add at least seven pounds when I weigh myself. (It’s a mini, not a shuffle)

Today I went to the gym for the first time since I had Kole.  With Ellie, I didn’t take her to the gym until she was over one year old. I didn’t trust anyone but me to take care of my baby. When I did finally leave her, I gave specific instructions on everything about her from what she liked to play with to how she liked to be held. Then I found a treadmill with a direct view into the Kids Klub so I could watch her the whole time I worked out. I took Addison to the gym around six months. I knew and trusted the ladies I was leaving her with by this time, but still gave them specific instructions each time I dropped her off and still tried to workout at least part of the time close by so I could peek in on her. With Kole I was counting down for him to turn three months – old enough to go to the Kids Klub. I dropped all three of my kids off today, handed the ladies a diaper bag, muttered “bless you all!” and headed for the exercise equipment as far away from the Kids Klub as possible.

**Side note:  (I don’t recommend you click on that last post “Life with Three” if you get queasy easily.  It’s a very real look into what life can be like with little ones!  But one of my favorite posts just the same.)  :)

Anyway!  You can see how my gym used to be a big part of my life and why I’m so excited to be back in the routine of visiting again.  Kole is finally old enough to run and play with the other kids and doesn’t cry when I leave like he used to (which was why I took such a long break).  It has been two years since I stopped going and it was like a family reunion when I re-joined.  So fun to see so many of the same people working there!  They couldn’t believe how big the girls are now.  They were also so happy to see that Addison’s hair is still super curly.  :)

Now that I’ve gabbed all about my old gym with old blog posts, it’s time to share something new!  
In honor of my new gym membership (and in hopes to motivate me to exercise) I bought some new running shoes and downloaded some new workout music.  
I mentioned attempting to hit the Nordstroms sale with Kole a couple of weeks ago.  The trip only lasted about 45 minutes but it was just long enough to find these fun Nikes on sale for 50 bucks!  SCORE.  Such a great deal. Have you all seen the fun Nikes this season?  Mine aren’t nearly as bright and colorful as most of this collection.  These shoes are so popular around here.  I was in desperate need of some new running shoes and these are so comfortable.  Perfect for treadmill running at my new-old gym!  

I also thought I’d share the new tunes I added to my workout play list on my ipod.  I mixed all of these songs in with my old running mix which you can see here.  Great music to get your feet moving!

Raise Your Glass – Pink
Rolling in the Deep – Adele
Rumor Has It – Adele
Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO
Pump It – Black Eyed Peas
Dum Diddly – Black Eyed Peas
Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas
Bad Romance – Lady Ga Ga
On the Floor – Jennifer Lopez
Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
Girlfriend – Avril Lavigne
Battlefield – Jordin Sparks
Party in the USA – Miley Cyrus (in honor of this post)  :)
Run the World (Girls) – Beyonce
Hello – Martin Solveig

Any fun, fast paced songs I’ve missed?  Do tell!  

Happy Friday everyone! 

xoxo, Erin
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New House
07.26.12

House decisions made!

My brain is officially fried.  Kenny and I spent 5 hours this afternoon with our builder and window guy.  To continue the 4 hour meeting we had yesterday.  Which was a continuation of the 6 hour meeting from a few days before.  And you know what?  We aren’t even half way finished with exterior windows and doors!  We haven’t even made it to the fun part yet where I get to pick out styles!  We have been going room by room and determining exact size, which way the windows/doors will open, and (for me) discovering all sorts of things about my floor plan that I didn’t realize before… – Oh!  I’m going to need a 15 foot ladder to plant flowers in that flower box.  Maybe that’s not the best location for one.  Come to think of it, maybe my architect already told me that and I chose to ignore him because all I could think about was how pretty some purple petunias would look in that window.  :)  

Anyway!  Despite the mummy like state I am constantly walking around in with so many house decisions still left to make, I feel really excited about the things I have decided on!  Here is a peek of a few things I am including in the new house…

{DUTCH DOOR}
I have been having a love affair with dutch doors for some time now.  I absolutely adore them and I  wanted one so badly!  Aside from the look and overall charm they add to a space, I love the idea of opening the top half of the door to let in the ocean breeze or watch my kids while they play outside.  When we were working on designing the mudroom with our architect, I sent him this picture:

I told him I loved this look and for sure wanted a dutch door in my mudroom coming in off of the front porch, but I also wanted lots of space for lockers/cubbies for the kids.  We initially had the dutch door in the plans, but then a few weeks later we took it out so that I would have more storage space.  Until three days ago when I put it back in.  :)  I couldn’t stop thinking about it!  One of those things I really wanted and I finally decided it was more important to me than extra storage.  I still have plenty of room to do what I want to do for the kids in the mudroom so it worked out great.  And I’m so excited about this door!  I haven’t decided what color it will be – white, black, grey, or maybe something really bright and fun?  Kenny is excited too.  Last week he said “are you still talking about that dutch door!?  Enough already! Put it back in!”  So I guess he’s less excited about the door and more excited that I won’t be discussing it anymore, but regardless, we both got what we wanted in the end.  :)

{OUTDOOR ENTERTAINING}

We have a fun outdoor entertaining area coming off of the french doors in the family room.  It’s a covered patio with a fireplace similar to the picture above.  The last few days we have debated installing the lift and slide doors (we have doors that come off of our living room and into this outdoor patio).   The lift and slide doors are so cool.  They slide right into the wall so your indoor/outdoor area becomes one big room.  But tonight we finally decided to stick with the french doors because they are more compatible with the style of our home.  Plus they cost less.  Always a bonus!  
{STYLE}
Speaking of style!  I love two styles of homes: Nantucket/Cape Cod and French Country.  When we first started designing the house I was trying to combine both styles, but as the house progressed, it turned into more and more of a Nantucket look.  Guess that style is my ultimate favorite!  I could never find an exact picture of what I wanted for the exterior, so I sent my architect individual pics of everything.  I sent him SO many pictures:  love this door, love these windows, love this siding, etc.  It has been so fun seeing everything I love come together to create a home!  This is one of the pictures I sent him for inspiration and our house has several similarities… 

Isn’t this home beautiful!?  This is exactly how our garages will stick out from the house only ours are on the right side of the house where the garages in this picture are on the left (looking head on).  Just like this picture, we will pull into our garages on the inside.  This made the most sense with the shape of our lot. Another thing I love about this house is all of the white molding.  I LOVE white molding and the way it pops against any rock or siding.  I also love the triangle peaks in the roof line (over the front door and over the front garage).  Our house has a lot of peaks/gables in the roof line.  In fact sometimes I worry that I went a little too crazy with the gables!  I don’t think I went too crazy with the white molding though.  In my opinion, one can never have too much white molding.  :)

{WINDOWS}

These two pictures show the type of window style that is consistent throughout the house.  LOVE it!!  I haven’t decided how thick I want the lines in the upper part of the windows to be and if there will be six squares (pic above) or three rectangles (pic below).  That will be decided in our next 5 hour window meeting.  (I’m about to ask our babysitter to just move in with us!).  
{CEILING TREATMENTS}
I haven’t decided exactly what I’m doing for ceilings in the main rooms of the house (a lot of it depends on what we can afford after we see where we’re at with everything else).  But I do know what I want for the family room.  We have a high pitched roof in our family room and this is the look that is penciled in the plans:  

SO pretty!  My mom saw these pictures on-line a few months ago and called me and said “I found a picture of what you’ve been talking about for your ceilings!”  Sure enough, there they were.  It was love at first sight.

{FRIDGE}

I have gone back and forth so many times on whether or not I should do a stainless steel fridge or cover it so that it blends in with the kitchen cabinets.  After much debate, I’m leaning towards having it blend in with the cabinets like the picture above.  I love the look of stainless, but this will be much more practical so that I’m not cleaning fingerprints every other day like I do now.  But don’t hold me to it, since I have been known to change my mind as often as Addison changes her clothes.  Which as you all know is pretty often.

So that is just a peek of some of the things that we are including in the new house!  There are still so many decisions to make, but like I said, I’m feeling good about the choices we’ve made so far.  Maybe I don’t suffer from decision making disorder after all!

Or do I?  
I can’t decide.  

:)
xoxo, Erin
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New House
07.24.12

The more torn up the better!

So fun to finally see our lot buzzing with activity!  
These pics are from over a week ago and things are even more torn up as of late!  The kids had their day in the sun running through the trenches, but now things are getting dangerous so no more exploring the lot with the littles.  
I love driving by to see what’s been done each day.  
I look out at the lot and think to myself – “looks like more holes in the dirt!  Fabulous!”  
Who knew dirt, heavy duty machinery and a porta potty could be so exciting!?  :) 

We are knee deep in window and door decisions this week.  SO many options!  It has been a bit overwhelming and will take weeks to finalize.  Good thing I totally know what I’m doing.

  (I so totally don’t.)

Good times around here.  :)
Happy Tuesday everyone!
xoxo, Erin
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organization2
07.23.12

Back to School Checklist

I always have mixed feelings about my kids going back to school.  By the end of summer I’m usually ready to regain some sort of schedule, but I dread getting back into the business school brings.  Plus I get so sappy every year knowing my girls are moving up a grade and are getting one year older.  I totally bawled last year when Addison started Kindergarten (and according to my friends I had no business doing so since she wasn’t my first and I still have one more baby home – ha!).  We still have plenty of summer left around here (my girls don’t start until the beginning of September) but I don’t want to make the same mistake I made last summer.  Last summer I didn’t start thinking about preparing for school until about a week before.  The backpacks I tried to order on-line were sold out.  School supplies were picked over.  Kole was so hard to shop with that I was only able to get the girls one or two new things to wear.  None of this was that big of a deal, but more than anything I didn’t love that I spent our last week of summer running around feeling stressed instead of enjoying that time with my kids.  So to ensure that doesn’t happen again, this weekend I made a back to school checklist.  Of course I did!  Because what’s better than a good checklist, right!?  :)  My plan is to start slowly getting ready for the beginning of the new school year so that as summer winds down I can relax knowing that I’m on top of things.


1) Buy backpacks and lunch boxes.  Check!  

I was strolling by Pottery Barn Kids in June (my girls were still finishing up last school year) and noticed that all of their summer backpacks were on sale.  Score!  I knew I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made last year…
Identical backpacks were a joke.  Even though I had their names on them we still got them mixed up a time or twenty.  Ellie’s homework would end up in Addison’s backpack, Addison would end up with two water bottles, etc.  I’m all about making my life easier this year!  Now let’s just hope they don’t both want the same one. 
2)  Buy containers for water.  Check!

These are my favorite water bottles for my girls’ lunches.  I bought them at Target.  They have a lot of different styles and I’ve tried most of them.  These hold up the best and they keep the water ice cold all day long.  The button is easy to push and a straw pops up making them less likely to spill all over the place.  Again, I got them two different styles.

3)  Buy the girls each two pairs of shoes.  Our school has a closed toe shoe policy so no sandals or flip flops.  I need to find them each a good pair of running shoes and then something a little more feminine that will work with skirts.  This is always my most dreaded back to school purchase.  I hate shoe shopping with my kids!  I’d elaborate on the pains of it, but I don’t think there is any need.  Those of you who have kids know exactly what I’m talking about.  If you don’t, consider yourself very lucky.

4)  Sort through all of the clothes in the girls’ closets and drawers.  I’m going to sort through every article of clothing they have and clear closets of anything that doesn’t fit them and they aren’t wearing anymore.  This will give me a good idea of what I need to buy for each of them.

5)  Shop for clothes they need.  Easier said than done with my little man in the picture.  Definitely getting a babysitter and just taking the girls this year!  I think we’ll also get lunch and make a fun “girls date” out of it.  :)

6)  Get all medical forms signed by the doctor.  Take forms and medication to the school nurse.  We have a child with allergies so we always have a ton of forms that need to be signed by our pediatrician and our allergy doctor (almost as fun as the shoe shopping).

7)  Print supply lists and shop for school supplies.  YEA!  My FAVORITE part of back to school!

8)  Make appointments for all three kids to get hair trimmed.

9)  Create ways to simplify our morning routine as much as possible.  School mornings are crazy at our house.  Mostly because my two year old senses that it is a busy, rushed time and naturally does everything in his power to make life difficult.  It’s what two year olds do best.  :)  I’ve been thinking a lot this summer about what I can do to make mornings run a little smoother and allow for more Kole hiccups.  Aside from getting lunches and backpacks ready the night before, I also want to start picking out outfits for the girls a week at a time.

I love this hanging outfit sorter (sorry I couldn’t find the link!).  The only problem is that I don’t have room for something like this in the girls’ closets.  So here is another option I’m considering –

Making some sort of daily labels for a weeks’ worth of outfits.  (You can buy these here.)  Every Sunday I’ll pick out a few outfits and the girls can pick out a few outfits.  Then everyone is happy!  I’m planning to have them pick out every little thing right down to the headband they are going to wear in their hair that day.  Then we are sticking to our outfit plan!  No more clothes debates in the morning!  No more “this is too itchy… this skirt doesn’t fit right…”  and then three outfit changes per girl later we are finally ready to walk out the door.  I never thought I’d be an advocate of school uniforms because I love clothes so much, but by the end of last year I would have welcomed the thought of my girls having to wear the same thing every day.  I’m over the outfit drama!  
10)  Be prepared with a variety of school lunch ideas.  Man.  This is a hard one for me.  My school lunches are so boring.  I’ve been pinning pictures of some fun, creative ways to serve my girls their lunch in hopes that they will start eating everything instead of coming home with their apple slices still sitting neatly in a zip lock bag untouched.  Here are a couple of fun ideas I’m going to try – 
Love the idea of putting cheese, fruits and veggies on a stick.  

  I’m also planning to use cookie cutters to cut some of the girls’ food into fun little shapes.  
And of course I’ll continue to leave napkin notes in their lunch every day.  
One of our favorite daily traditions.  :)
I don’t have time for anything too crazy creative, but these ideas are an easy start to making school lunches a little more fun.
So that’s it!  My back to school checklist.  Baby steps all the way to a smoother transition.  :)

xoxo, Erin
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fun finds
07.20.12

Favorites on Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  Popping in to share some of my favorite things.  Some of these I’ve blogged about before.  Some of them are new loves.  Either way, they are some of the little things that make me happy each day.  

My favorite cleaning supplies.  Weiman Stainless Steel wipes are hands down my favorite tool for getting rid of the abundance of hand prints left on all things stainless in my kitchen.  I love stainless steel appliances when they look nice and clean.  These wipes make it so easy to keep them that way!   And another all time favorite of mine when it comes to keeping things clean is Resolve products.  I have used Resolve carpet cleaner for years.  Gets out any little spot or stain instantly.  I love it so much that a few months ago I tried Resolve Spray and Wash in the laundry.  LOVE it too!  Takes care of every one of Kole’s dirt and grass stains (and he has plenty!).

I know I just blogged about my lovely little card/receipt organizer but I am loving it so much I had to include it in my favorites list.  I bought it at Staples – Martha Stewart’s office supplies (along with the fun labels I used in my organized craft cupboard post).  I can’t wait to go back and get more of her office supplies!
Bran Chex.  Been eating them for breakfast for years.  A quick, healthy breakfast that tastes good and keeps me full until lunch.  Kenny orders them from Amazon for me (I can’t find them anywhere around here!) so they are delivered to our doorstep in this huge box.  You would think a box like this would last forever, but the kids love them too so we go through this baby pretty fast.  My dad loves them too so for his birthday one year we set up a monthly delivery from Amazon to his doorstep.  He loved it.  Calls it the gift that keeps on giving.  :)
Favorite snack.  I LOVE sugar snap peas.  I also love that they come already washed and ready to eat.  I take them with me in the car a lot when I’m hungry and running kids around.  

My all time favorite book for toddlers.  There are several versions of The Wheels on the Bus out there, but this one with movable parts is the best.  Hands down.

Every page has fun arrows to pull that move the characters all around.  A friends gave me this book when I was pregnant with Ellie.  Ellie LOVED it and we read it so much that by the time Addison came around I had to get a new one.  Same thing with Addison.  We read it so much (and she played with it so much) that we had to get a new one by the time Kole came around.  So this is our third copy!  And what do you know – it’s Kole’s all time favorite book.  We have been reading it every night for almost a year!  I throw in other books during our reading time, but Kole insists on this one every night.   If you have a toddler (or need a good gift for someone who does!) I’m telling you – this book is it.  
You can order it here and thank me later.  Unless reading it so much drives you crazy and you decide not to thank me after all.  :)  (**side note – if you do get this book I’d recommend keeping it up high away from toddler hands and only take it down when you are going to look at it together.  That way the book doesn’t get destroyed and it’s a special treat to read together.)

And a fun, new book my girls are enjoying called Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?  Darling story and fun illustrations.

Neutrogena sunless tan lotion.  Love this stuff!  It’s my go to in the summer time.  You all know I’ve been cursed blessed with incredibly fair skin.  I gave up my “try to tan and burn myself” days long ago and am now super careful about protecting my skin from the sun.  The only problem is that I live in an area where shorts work year round and sunscreen is always essential.  So I rub or spray a little of this on my legs every few days and wa-la!  My legs no longer blind people.  :)  (I prefer the lotion over the spray because the tan looks more even.  I buy it at Target or you can order it here).  

Natural Ice chap stick (cherry).  Love this stuff.  I always have an abundance of it because my cute mom buys it for me.  Every time I see her she slips a few packages in my purse.  :)  

Soon I’m going to do a post on all of my favorite make-up, but I had to include this one in my post today because I adore it.

 It’s called “Painterly Paint Pot” by MAC.  It’s like foundation for your eye lids and I LOVE it!  Basically you put it on before you put on your eye make-up and it makes it so that your eye shadow never creases.  My eye shadow looks as good at 5:00 in the evening as it did when I put it on in the morning.  Which is awesome, because time to touch up my make-up doesn’t exist these days!  

I shared these favorite products on my last hair post.  The Enjoy hair straightener and Paul Mitchell hairspray have been favorites of mine for years.  I’m trying out some new products and I’ll share those too if they become favorites!

Another thing that seriously makes me so happy every day is my navigation system in my car – and the cute pic of my kiddos on the screen.  (This picture was taken in the winter which is why it’s dark at 5:15.)  :)  It seems like every other day I’m typing in one address or another and this amazing invention leads me right to my destination.  Genius for someone who is as directionally challenged as I am.  (Seriously – you can ask my friends – I take it to a whole new level.)

 I love my navigation system so much and would be lost without it!  Literally.  

And last but not least, a few recent favorite pics.  That I may or may not have taken while driving in my car.  (I don’t recommend that by the way…)

 Love summer time in San Diego.  It’s a favorite too.  :)

Have a great weekend everyone!  
xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
07.19.12

Sibling Love (teaching kids to get along and love each other)

Hi friends!  Thanks for the sweet comments on my craft cupboard post!  That was a fun one for me.  (As all organizing posts tend to be!)  Today I am finally addressing a question that has popped up so many times.  Questions that are all similar to these:

How do you raise your girls to be so sweet to each other?  Is there anything you did in particular when they were really little that ensured they would be so close and get along so well?


Your girls are darling!  Do they fight with each other?  How do you help them be such good friends?

If you’ve read my blog for a while you know that my two girls are thick as thieves.  I have loved getting  asked this question because it has really made me stop and think – what am I doing that has helped to create such a great relationship between my girls?  My girls have completely different personalities (as most siblings do!) and yes – they do fight (as all siblings do!).  Obviously it helps that they are close in age and share a lot of the same interests, but I do think that there are things you can do as a parent to help foster and encourage loving relationships between your kids.  Here are a few things I’ve done that I believe has helped my girls become the inseparable duo that they are today.  :)

1-  Keep a low key schedule with lots of down time for your kids to play with each other.  As much as I love to socialize and to be out and about, I also crave down time every day.  I love to be home with all of my kids home with me.  Quiet family time.  I need it so that I can stay on top of my house and things that are important to me.  My kids need it so that they can spend quality, uninterrupted time together.  No TV.  No play dates.  No running around from one activity to another.  Just time at home to be creative and play.  My girls spend SO much time at home with each other.  They have become each other’s best friend simply because I have given them no other option!  :)

2 – Teach your children how special sibling relationships are.  I tell my girls all the time how lucky they are to have each other.   Another way that I reinforce this is through my scrapbooks and photo albums.  For Valentines day a couple of years ago I made my girls a photo book called “Sisters” (you can see the whole book here). 

This book is so simple and was easy to make.  Just pictures of them and little tidbits about how close they are and all of the things they love to do together.  We read this book often and it is a constant reminder to them of how special their relationship is.  This is one example of a visual way to teach siblings that they are lucky to have each other.  We also talk about our relationships.  Sometimes at dinner I’ll ask my kids random questions about their day and about each other.  For example:  “Ellie – what is one thing you love about Addison?” … oh I love that about her too!”  or “Addison, did you get to see Ellie at school today? … I bet that was fun!”

3 – When your kids do fight, teach them how to compromise and work it out together.  We talk A LOT about compromise at our house.  I am always saying to my girls “what can we do that will be fair for everyone?”  or “How can you two work this out together?”  Then I give them a chance to come up with the answer.  Often with a little prompting, I can get them to solve their own disagreements.  If not, I quickly solve things for them by saying that if they don’t stop fighting we will be done playing and move on to our chores or bedtime.  If they are fighting over a certain toy, I tell them that if they can’t work something out that is fair, the toy will be taken away and neither of them will get to play with it.  That usually does the job.  :)

4 – Use behavior charts to help encourage positive attitudes towards each other and no fighting.  Not long ago I shared my star behavior charts which have always been a huge motivator for my girls to have positive attitudes towards each other and to not fight.  Having something set up like this where siblings are rewarded for being kind to each other and not fighting is a great way to encourage your kids to get along.

5 – Give positive praise when you see your kids getting along and being kind to each other.  This one is HUGE!  Positive reinforcement is such a powerful tool.  I look for opportunities all the time to praise my girls for getting along or being kind to each other.  I’ll say things like “Ellie, I love the way you are playing so nicely with Addison and letting her use your doll.  What a good big sister you are.”  Or “Addison, that was such a sweet thing to say to Ellie.  I bet that made her feel so happy!”  Comments like this always make my girls smile.  They feel special and proud of themselves and it encourages them to continue to do nice things for each other in the future.

6 – Teach by example.  I am really close to my siblings and my kids have definitely picked up on this.  I tell them stories all the time about things we did together and how much fun we had with each other when we were little.  My girls also see that I prioritize spending time with them now.  When my sister had her baby and I flew out to visit and help, I explained to my girls that they will do things like that for each other when they get older.  Teach your kids that no matter what, siblings are always there for each other.  
(me and my siblings)

Seeing the way my kids love each other is one of my favorite things about being a mom. 

Sibling love. 
 Nothing quite compares.  :)
I would love to hear from you!  
Any other tips for teaching your kids to love each other and get along?  

xoxo, Erin
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