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When I heard the advice "feel the fear and do it anyway," it resonated so much so that 9 years later I think of it when goal setting, procrastinating or conquering. I love it because it reminds me to give myself permission to feel the way I feel, but motivates me not to stop there. I've tried to be a bit braver these past few years--taking incremental steps to conquer fear. I wouldn't necessarily say I struggle with fear but then when I look at some of my choices, I see just enough hesitation to make me pause and evaluate that statement. Most often it's the fear of failing, but it's also fear of what others think, fear of the end result not being 'worth it,' and most common the fear of realizing I just don't have what it takes.

Summer- who else has a love/hate relationship with it? It's mostly love, but the boredom, bickering, and constant eating kiiinnnnd of drive me bananas. The key is to keep the little crazies busy. It doesn't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to fill up an entire day. But just a few fun and not-so-ordinary summer activities here and there can make a world of difference. If you don't know what to do with your kids this summer, here are 25 more summer activities for kids. You can see the 50 fun summer activities from last year here.

For years the girls' art ended up in a box in the garage. I knew I couldn't keep it forever but didn't know what to do with it after its week in the hall of fame (aka hung on the fridge) so my indecision led to clutter. I don't know if I've ever talked here about how ridiculously cluttered our old house had gotten but, well YIKES--like beginning stages of hoarders. So yeah trying to avoid that by having a place for everything. Cue Chatbooks. They make it quick, easy, and inexpensive to preserve your child's artwork sans-clutter. Here's how I do it.

I've always been enamored with thrift shopping. The whole 'used' factor doesn't creep me out one bit and lately as I learn more about clothing waste and ethical shopping (mostly from my rock star friend Molly) I'm even more motivated to shop second hand. Add to that a 'cause,' and well I'm a goner. In this case, the thrift store is Recovered Treasures and it supports an organization called Healing Transitions. Healing Transitions is a nonprofit recovery facility for homeless individuals with alcohol and other drug problems. Their mission is to break the cycle of poverty and addiction by providing a peer based recovery program, at no cost to participants. One of the things I love about Recovered Treasures is that 100% of the proceeds from my purchase, helps support Healing Transitions. If that's enough to convince you to hop aboard the thrift store train, today I'm sharing what to look for at a thrift store!

Thank you to the Chinet^® brand for sponsoring this post.


I've realized something about myself. While I love to entertain, I sometimes worry about the details. Often, I put off getting together with friends because I'm worried about how things will turn out. Will the food be good enough? Will our guests have enough in common? And a big one for us: will the kids derail the whole thing? ha! I'm here to say that I've finally come to the place where I can anticipate what will keep the kids happy so that the adults are happy! Turns out, it's not the number of toys you have or the size of your home. Nope. There are a handful of simple things you can do to throw a kid-friendly, easy summer party, ensuring that your grown-up guests have a great time. And here they are: