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Tubing and FAQ’s about my Cordova Snowsuit

December 23, 2019~ Etc.

To start off our Christmas break, we went tubing this past weekend. We usually go to the Soldier’s Hallow but all the tickets were sold out so we went to Woodward Park City. They just had a grand opening after a huge remodel and they’re much more expensive than Soldier’s Hallow but their lanes are longer(longest lanes offered in UT) and the speed was faster so it was a lot of fun.

But honestly? I would rather go to Soldier’s Hallow for $20-28 a ticket instead of paying $52-$60 for Woodward Park City. It’s pricey!

I posted this photo above on my Instagram and got many DM’s asking questions about my snowsuit, I had no idea it was going to cause such a stir! The brand of my snowsuit is called Cordova and I posted another photo on Instagram answering all the questions about my snowsuit but I will also write them here for easy reference.

Where can I get it? You can purchase here: http://liketk.it/2IpKZ or scroll to the bottom to shop. I’d appreciate it if you could use my link to purchase, which I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Is it stretchy? Yes! It’s pretty stretchy so it’s not restrictive but very comfortable!

Is it warm? It’s very warm! I initially brought a puffer coat to wear but it got so hot I took it off. I just wore a thermal top and leggings underneath the suit and it kept me warm.

What size are you wearing? I’m wearing an XS. My waist size is 24”. The belt is a tiny bit loose on me so I plan on taking it in a half an inch and it’s also loose below the butt area, if you’re comparing it to the models.

Where did you buy it? Did you pay full price? I got 10% off from Olivela(use code: Olivela or Tryus for 10% off), it had NO tax, and free shipping & returns. They also donate 20% of the proceeds to an organization you choose, and it’s founded by two women.

Does it give you a camel toe? No, not at all! Thanks for asking though!🤣 If you are into camel toe fashion(I’m not here to judge), then refer to my Halloween costume fail(or win) post and you can have my costume that’s guaranteed a visit from the camel every time.

Shop the snowsuits here:

These are accessories to go with the snowsuit. I plan on buying a white puffer coat to wear with the snowsuit, I also have a navy blue one that I love(only $28! Link to purchase here, it’s super warm, thick and high quality, I was pleasantly surprised!).

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Places I’ll be Shopping at for Black Friday

November 26, 2019~ Etc.

I am not a big Black Friday shopper in person(have only been once and it was to Best Buy because Jay wanted to check it out), but I do buy a few things here and there when the deal is just too good to pass up!

ASOS is having their biggest Black Friday sale ever! Use code: BIG30 for 30% off EVERYTHING! But make sure to watch this YouTube video I made on how you can save up to 20% on top of the promo code! Then click here to shop.

Make sure you set the Country/currency to GBP and order on PayPal to avoid the foreign transaction fee. (but even with the fee, the savings is far greater than the fee so it’s still worth it!))

It also works for Europe! A subscriber commented, “I just tried this technique out on an order from Europe, and I actually do save about 20%!”

2. Shopbop is having a great sale where you can get 15% off orders $200+, 20% off orders $500+ and 25% off orders $800+ with code: MORE19

3. Forever 21 has the cutest/ugliest ugly sweaters! Many of the items are 30% off and everything is 30% off if you shop from their app. They also have these two cute sweater dresses that’s on my wishlist.

4. New York and Company

I’ve never shopped from this store until a couple months ago and they have really cute clothes in the midst of some not so cute ones! Haha.

Below are some purchases I made and I LOVE them, especially the green dress.

5. H & M is 30% off the whole store starting 11/27(today)! You just need to have an account with them and add the deal to your cart. I just bought the items below.

6. J.Crew, GAP and Old Navy is 50% off everything. 60% off sale-priced items at J.Crew and 60% off everything at J.Crew Factory!

7. My wishlist is this special edition Kitchen-aid. SO beautiful.

Wayfair is having an amazing sale throughout the whole store. Here are some bunkbeds I found that are so adorable and up to 60% off!

8. Lord & Taylor is $100 off orders $200+!

9. Cotton On is 40% off storewide. Excludes sales.

10. Ted Baker is up to 50% off everything.

What is on your wish list?

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All the Responsibilities of a Stay at Home Parent

November 12, 2019~ Etc.

The enormous responsibilities a stay at home parent has that no one seems to really understand or grasp, hence people asking, “What do you do all day?”

If you follow me on Instagram, you know how burnt out I’ve been the past few weeks.

The problem is that I am one rotten spoiled girl. There, I said it. Jay spoils me rotten and while I am indeed spoiled, I am not a brat because I am well aware of it and am super grateful for how hands-on Jay is in the house and how much he does to make my life easier.

But this past year has been quiet different. And especially the past few months. As Jay has been getting more responsibilities at work and the house Jay is building(yes, he is literally building the house with his hands and acting as our contractor), is getting more busy, he has been a lot more MIA in the house.

Now, you can’t compare him to a normal husband, you just can’t. Every single one of my friends who know us well has told me that he is a one in a million husband. That no husbands should be compared to Jay, because that just isn’t fair since he is not like most guys.

I have only been married to one man so I don’t know how other husbands are personally, but from the words of my friends and family, he truly is unique.

Jay never stops working. He gives it his all at work and the minute he comes home, he gives it his all to make my life easier. That means cleaning up the kitchen or the house immediately upon stepping foot inside the house and greeting us, vacuuming, taking out the garbage, helping with the kids’ homework, school projects(he helps with every single one of their school projects such as presentations or science fair, I have yet to help the kids in that department), doing the laundry, sorting the laundry, folding the laundry and putting it away, then we sit and eat dinner as a family, then he helps bathe them, we pray together and puts them to bed.

A photo of Jay working hard to build me my dream house!

One year when I came home from a New York trip he gifted me with as a surprise, the home was sparkling clean(even the back of the refrigerator was cleaned and wiped), organized, kids were happy and vibrant, they listened when I asked them to do something the first time without any complaint, all because he made this giant, impressive and beautiful chore chart that he had the kids color and he got it laminated and made into magnets, all complete with rewards point system. I asked him how it was by himself and he said, “It was fine! No big deal.”

I was hoping he’d tell me what a Hero I was, that he doesn’t know how I do it every single day, that he’ll truly appreciate everything that I do, but no. I was the one made to feel guilty thinking I should do more while he’s at work!

While my sister was visiting us from CA with her 3 little kids, my sister and I went out to lunch together and when I texted Jay asking what he was doing, he replied casually that he was at Target with all 6 kids, age 6 and under. My sister and I gasped and looked at each other because that’s something we wouldn’t even fathom of doing, and I asked him how it was going and he said, “Good? Why?” As if I was the weird one asking this question. Because to him, it was no big deal and never even dawned on him that some people might find it difficult or overwhelming.

I have so many examples but I will give one last example. He planned our wedding. Yep. My only contributions were picking out the wedding dress, approving the venue and the menu, and going with him to do cake tasting and choosing which cake flavor and design I wanted. He planned down to designing and printing our wedding invitations, finding a photographer, entertainment(piano and violin performances by our friends), MC, the program, all the way to the thank you cards.

That’s just who he is. He is the hardest working person I know, hardly gets overwhelmed even when watching numerous little kids, that he doesn’t think twice about taking them all to Target, likes to be in charge, executes, and makes it happen.

So you understand a little more just how spoiled I am. So you can understand just how hard it has been for me this past year and especially the past few months, as Jay has so many responsibilities, more than ever before, that he can’t help a lot at the house for a short while, until our house is finished.

And because I have been holding it on my own at the house, I have been so overwhelmed by it all! I thought motherhood was overwhelming before, but I am now seeing the full gravity of it all, even more clearly without Jay helping out so much.

So last week, about to start my period and moody and burnt out, I sent out a long text to a couple of my closest friends of all the responsibilities we had as a mother, that our husbands don’t ever have to worry or think about. They both agreed how true it was and I know there are exceptions, so let me know if this is also true in your household or if it’s not!

Text I sent to my girlfriends:

“I am so overwhelmed and exhausted of this whole motherhood thing. Not the kids of course, it’s never the kids. But everything else that comes with it.

Keeping track and scheduling health, dental, ortho, vision appointments at a time that works between their school/activities and your schedule, picking them up, driving them, waiting with them, then driving back. Ordering glasses, contacts, picking them up, flu shots, Kindergarten shots.

Asking and deciding which extra curricular activities the kids want to do, then researching and finding the best teachers/classes, seeing the available dates/times and trying to fit it all in a time frame that will work for everyone else in the family, then driving them and going with them, waiting, then driving them back, planning play dates, giving rides to school, or stores they need to go to and friend’s house.

1. meal planning 2. grocery shopping 3. Meal prepping 4. cooking 5. Cleaning all the mess and washing the dishes; Repeating steps #1–#5 every single day, 3 times a day for the rest of your life until the day you die.

Never ending laundry. Oh my gosh. Gathering, sorting, washing, drying, folding, putting away, all over again, almost daily, only to be caught up for 1 day until it piles up again. Having to work around everyone’s schedule first to make sure it’ll work every time I want to do anything like eat lunch with friends or appointments for myself, keeping track of when to wash all the sheets and pillowcases, cleaning the bathroom, mopping, vacuuming, washing the mirrors, windows, gathering trash for trash day, dusting off the house, cleaning spills and messes made constantly by the kids, organizing.

Scheduling and attending parent teacher conferences, going to school to watch them in plays, giving presentations, reports, science fair, Veterans Day choir, volunteering at the schools classrooms and parties, planning outings and fun activities for your family for the weekend or week nights and every Holiday, planning what to eat for those Holidays, planning every vacation by choosing location, budget, airfare, hotel, activities, food, packing.

Every time you get invited to a dinner, party, church activity, asking what you can bring then making or buying the said dish.

Researching and reading a bunch of parenting books and articles on how to discipline, chore charts, how much to give for allowance, how to set limits, curfews, consequences, rewards, attitude problems, hormonal changes, puberty. Reading these said books so you can be informed, reading or sharing some of the info to your husband or your kids.

Being their clock and also an alarm. Making sure they complete every one of their chores and reminding them over and over and over again, reminding them of the time of their extra curricular activities the day of, reminding them again 30 mins. before, then 5 mins. before, then 1 min. before, telling them to get in the car, making sure they do their homework and got it right, practicing piano, ukulele, singing, cheer, stretching. Printing out or buying music for their lessons, downloading music, measuring, ordering and paying for their uniforms.

Brushed their teeth and flossed good, is showering everyday, that they don’t have body odor, planning birthday parties, planning b-day treats or toys to hand out to class, buying b-day presents for their friends and wrapping them, figuring out/planning/buying what costume to wear for Halloween, researching and finding a photographer for a family photo, scheduling the family photo, planning the family outfit. Designing, ordering, sending out Christmas cards.

Keeping track of supplies of toilet paper, dish soap, paper towels, baby wipes, detergent, tissue paper, toothpaste, face wash, soap, body wash, shampoo & conditioner, hairbands, cotton balls, Vaseline, q-tips, coconut oil, face lotion, acne skin products, body lotion, alcohol, ointment, their shoes clothes for every season; making sure they have enough warm, cool, cold, hot clothes at every changing season and shopping for them. To make sure you don’t run out of them and constantly keeping track and keeping in stock.

Researching, reading, listening and watching about the harms of sulfate, carcinogen, fragrance, other harmful chemicals that affect the hormones and the health of the kids and buying the right products.

Researching, reading, listening and watching about gut health, prebiotics, probiotics, organic, winter and summer fruits, pectin, GMO, arsenic, grass-fed, local farms, healthy recipes, and buying the appropriate foods, beauty products, cleaning products, whenever they’re sick, tending to them and being their nurse, if they stay home, having to cancel your schedule that day to tend to them.

Making sure every child gets one on one time and feels loved, important and heard in the household, is being treated nice by their peers and they are nice to their peers, being respectful to their teachers, being kind, hard working, honest, happy, has enough social life, is stimulated mentally, caught up on school work and academics, making sure the kids are up to reading, math, spelling, Chinese, is growing up to be a good citizen to society and contributing at home, money management, stress management, anger or attitude problems, their friends are a good influence on them, listening to their drama, coming up with a solution to all their problems, answering their million questions or demands all day long, tending the dog, finding someone to watch the dog whenever you go on vacation.

Finding a babysitter if your schedule doesn’t work around everyone else’s schedule so you need to ask around and find a babysitter who can do it at the time you need, or if you are going out for a date night or you are going out at night and the husband is working.

That’s just for being a mom. Then add in your own career, hobbies, projects, deadlines, work hours, emails, phone calls, taking care of yourself(explains why I don’t eat good or skip meals or exercise or go get haircuts, nails, any self care), your social life(forget trying to find a time in between all your kids schedules that matches with another mom’s schedule full of her own kids schedules), your mental or physical health.”

I do have to give credit to Jay and many other husbands or working parents out there that do some of the above mentioned, as of course there are always exceptions, but you have to admit that majority of the above responsibilities fall on the stay at home parent, whom are statistically more often the mothers than the fathers.

I hope the working parents realize how much of a luxury and a blessing it is if your partner is a stay at home parent managing everything at home so you can focus 100% of your attention and time into your career while you are at work. The mental, emotional and physical responsibilities us stay at home parents take on is enormous. And if you run into anyone who wonders what a stay at home mom does all day? You can refer to them to this blog post.

So, is there something else I missed that we are responsible for? Is it different in your household?

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Spiderman Birthday Party

September 27, 2019~ Etc., PARTY

 

 

Spiderman birthday party

Learn how to throw this Spiderman party, keep reading below!

All the links to the printables are at the bottom of this post.

 

My son really wanted an at-home birthday party, even though I tried to push for an outside party like Nickel City where I don’t have to prep or clean up and just have to bring cake and some vegetables and fruit and the place serves pizza and drinks.

So I hired my 10 year old daughter as my assistant as we went shopping together and she made the 3-D buildings and also the Spiderman! The spiderman she added was done at the very last minute, when I told her I felt like something was missing. Then she went and printed a black and white Spiderman and attached it to a white string and it was perfect! I would have never thought of that myself so I was so impressed with her creativity.

We got most of the party supplies from Zurchers but all the links are at the bottom of this post. 

 

Spiderman birthday party

Spider web printables one | two

spiderman party

Using 3 black foam boards, I traced a cityscape with a pencil, then cut it with an exacto knife. For the buildings, we used the 12-pk. soda can boxes and covered it in paper, then added windows.

spiderman party

Spiderman birthday party

spiderman party

spiderman party

spiderman party

spiderman party

We had to have a lot of fruit and vegetables for the Superheroes that came to our party!

spiderman party

Bagel bite pizzas were a huge hit

spiderman party

I made the black spider web for the centerpiece with black construction paper, using this tutorial 

spiderman party

We played 3 games for the Spiderman party. The first game was we set up a security system with red crepe paper streamers where each Superhero had to go through the “red lasers” without touching or breaking it.

spiderman party

spiderman party

The second game was a “Spiderman web shooting fight” where each Superhero got a web shooter(silly string covered in Webshooter printables one | two) and had to fight each other. Team one got red, team two got the blue web shooters.

spiderman party

spiderman party

spiderman party

The third game was a pinata, of course! As requested by my 6-year old because what kid doesn’t love a pinata?

spiderman party

buy Spiderman loot bags here

spiderman party

I made sure to mix in a lot of toys along with candy in the pinata. 

spiderman party

After the games, he opened all the presents. The kids love this part of the party as much as the birthday kid. The cutest part was when my son’s little crush asked him, “Why aren’t you opening my present?”, without skipping a beat my son said, “I am saving the best for last.” A smooth operator!

spiderman party

Then we finished the party with his favorite cake, an Oreo ice-cream cake. His older sister has had this same cake for her birthday parties every year in the last 5 years and it’s his favorite too. Easy for me since I didn’t have to make it!

 

Table decor:

Red tassel banner/blue tassel banner (the tassels are pre-strung so I took the tassels off and combined both color tassels in one-string together)

Red rock candy

Cityscapes – I used 3 black foam boards and traced a cityscape with a pencil, then cut it using exacto knife

Buildings – using 12-pk. soda can boxes, we covered it in paper and added windows

Spiderman in action – printed a Spiderman in b/w and tied a white string to the top of the building 

Spiderman party package printables for water bottle wrappers, food labels and cupcake toppers(but they have a ton of other printables like banners, thank you tags, mini favor bags)

Webshooter printables one | two

Spider web printables one | two

 

Pinata:

Pinata from Zurchers

Spiderman loot bags

Spiderman yo-yo’s

Spiderman mega mix party favors

 

 

All the Spiderman decor, tablecloths, silly strings, tabelcloths, Spiderman utensils and plates, pinata toys and candy are from Zurchers. They have SO much more in store than what’s listed on the website, I love going into the store, they have so many cute stuff and it’s a one-stop-shop for all party things. Thank you to Zurcher’s for providing all the party supplies!

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My Top 10 Tips for Switching up Your Food Without Sacrificing Taste

March 5, 2019~ Etc.

This post is sponsored by fairlife ultra-filtered milk, and as always, all opinions and writing are my own.

 

cute family having a picnic outside in the park

 

With the beginning of the year past us, how are your new year resolutions coming along? I know a lot of us make new healthier goals when a new year comes around and we get pumped up at the start of January but as months go by, our motivation might start to dwindle and we are not as dedicated to our goals. But I want to share with you my top 10 tips for switching up your food without sacrificing taste that you can do in your life that don’t feel like you are losing anything! Not sacrificing taste is a very important factor to me, as I hardly ever buy fat-free options since they never seem to taste as good. But the 10 tips I share below, the food tastes just as good, if not better!

 

 

10 Healthier Food/Health Swaps Without Sacrificing Taste

  1. Choose fairlife ultra-filtered milk over regular milk. Why? It has 50% less sugar and 50% more protein than regular milk. Our family prefers its delicious and creamy taste, and we think you will too!
  2. Use an air-popper and an air-fryer. With this simple switch, you will be saving hundreds of calories! There is no need to put in any extra butter or oil with these air-machines, but it tastes amazing and I can never eat microwaved left over fries again after trying them in an air fryer!
  3. Spray the pans with pan spray. A tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories but an olive oil pan spray is only 5 calories, saving you 115 calories.
  4. Get thin-crust pizza instead of hand tossed crusts. They can be 1/2 the calories of a hand tossed pizza without sacrificing any taste!
  5. Use a spiralizer. After purchasing tens of already-spiralized zoodles, I looked online to find out that a spiralizer machine is much cheaper than I imagined it to be! A cup of zoodles is only 19 calories while a cup of noodles is 200 calories so this swap will save you 181 calories.
  6. Get your burgers protein-style. I get my burgers protein-style(burgers wrapped in lettuce instead of buns) anyway because they just taste so good! I prefer them over buns that leaves me feeling heavy afterwards. 1 lettuce leaf is only 4 calories while a hamburger bun is 120 calories.
  7. Oil & balsamic dressing over processed dressings. The taste of oil & balsamic dressing is so good, this might not even be an issue for many, but I think it’s a healthier option than the highly processed dressings with additives.
  8. Chew your food more and eat slower. I am the slowest eater and have always been told that that’s a good thing but I never really knew why it was a good thing. But studies show that people who eat faster consume more calories. Remember that feeling of a food coma where you are eating just fine but all of the sudden a feeling of intense fullness hits you out of nowhere, leaving you with a food coma? You won’t get that if you eat slowly.
  9. No mindless eating. Instead of eating while reading a book or watching t.v, or even talking with friends, be mindful of what you are eating, how it tastes and pay attention as you savor each bite. Enjoy your food! If you are occupied with doing something else while eating, are you really able to savor each bite and appreciate it’s flavor?
  10. Don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. I can attest to this from my personal experience, when I am hungry when I am grocery shopping, I buy a lot more snacks and fast foods that are easy to prepare or eat, many of them that are rich in sugar or fat. Going grocery shopping when your stomach is content will help you in making healthier food choices.

 

If you have any of your favorite ways to switch up food without sacrificing taste, please share in the comments!

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cutmypic
Hello! My name is Sarah and I am so happy to have you here! Here you'll find DIY sewing, DIY home building & decor, honest and vulnerable posts of motherhood and snippets of my family. We are building our dream house and will update you regularly on our whole process from start to finish and I am also starting a mother-daughter sewing series. So I hope you stay awhile!

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