Sometimes sisters don’t look anything like each other.  In “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” the story revolves around a pair of sisters that are as different in personality as they are in appearance.  This has always been the case with me and my sister Jessica.

My sister is 5 years older than me (sorry Jess!) and she is almost my complete opposite in appearance.  We have completely different face shapes, noses, body frames and even opposite hair.  Hers is light, straight and fine, mine is dark, kinky and thick.  Every time people meet both of us for the first time we get asked the same inadvertently rude questions: “are you real sisters?” and/or  “are you FULL sisters?”

What also stands out to people are our very different personalities.  Jessica is outgoing, friendly and sociable, while I tend to be “an acquired taste”   When we were children (and still actually) we had completely opposite hopes for gifts–Jess wanted to open hundreds of small presents, while I didn’t mind receiving only one expensive item.

There was certainly not much we had in common growing up and we didn’t always get along.  Now that we are older and have families there are quite a bit more things we have in common, but she remains completely alien to me at times.  Sometimes I look at the differences between me and my siblings (I have a brother too) and I wonder how we all could have grown up in the same house with the same set of parents.  I’m sure most families are like that, no?

In “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” Natasha is the beautiful sister and Sonja is the bookish one, and I’m sure you can tell that I naturally related more to Sonja.  If you haven’t picked up on this yet, my sister was always considered the attractive one out of the two of us girls.  I can still remember one middle school classmate of mine (who I still can’t help but think of as such a jerk) and his pudgy face uttering: “Why can’t you look more like your sister?”  How nasty, right?  But I think that I developed a thicker skin because of that.  I don’t know if I could ever be a tough-as-nails surgeon like Sonja (I’m a blood-phobe) but I’m happy with my tougher personality as a result

Disclosure:  This post was inspired by the novel A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra.  In war torn Chechnya, a young fatherless girl, a family friend, and a hardened doctor struggle with love and loss.  Join From
Left to Write on May 20 as we discuss Anthony Marra’s debut novel.  As a member, I received a copy of the book for
review purposes.

If you know me, you know that I love yard sales.  I also love flea markets, antique shops, estate sales and generally anywhere I feel like I could snag something unique and awesome.  You might even remember that I collect vintage pottery, and those finds always make me the happiest.

Well the last few weeks there have finally been some good sales around, plus last week we managed to oversleep and missed church (whoops!) and went to the Columbus Flea Market, where my in-laws had a table.  So while Marc and the kids hung out with his parents I actually had a few minutes of uninterrupted shopping time and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it was heavenly.  I didn’t manage to buy a ton, but this is what I ended up with from the flea market:

The pot on the left is a Hull brown drip bean pot– I am trying to cheaply amass a collection of Hull brown drip pottery so we can use that as our everyday dishes.  Yes, people like to make passive aggressive comments about how “seventies” it is, but I love it.  I spied this lid-less pot on a very bored man’s table and I asked him “no lid?” and he said “no, but you can have it for a dollar.” Ding!  I was furiously digging out a dollar and then he looked disappointed like maybe he should have asked for more.  Booyea!

Then, I walked around a few more tables and found that brown drip cookie jar and loved it.  It only has “USA” marked on the bottom.  It’s definitely not Hull, and it’s also not McCoy, I don’t know what it is.  But they wanted $10 for it, and I managed to haggle my way down when I commented on how it “really doesn’t match” the pot I just bought, and then the seller said “well how much did you pay for that?”  And when I told her $1 I guess she realized I wasn’t going to pay $10.  Bing, $5!

While I was walking around I found this really awesome huge drum:

But the sellers wanted $75 for it, and that was too much for me.  They told me how they used it for a coffee table, and that’s naturally what I was thinking of using it for, wouldn’t this be cool as a playroom coffee table?  But, I didn’t get it.  It was pretty rad though.

So just when I thought we weren’t buying anything else at the flea market, we were on our way out when we spotted this:

I thought it would be really cute for our entryway, where we currently had this little telephone table.  Marc wasn’t sold right away, and the guy wanted $50, but after he agreed to take $40 we got it.  On our way out everyone was oohing and ahhing over it and I think that helped boost Marc’s opinion of it.  Now it’s in our entryway and looks really cute.  Plus it’s the perfect size for putting laundry baskets on (does anyone else make their husband carry up the laundry?  I might just be really lazy).  It needs a new coat of white paint, but I love it.

Flash forward to this week and there was a large community yard sale near us.  Last year we were pretty unlucky with this particular town sale, but we thought we’d give it a try, mostly because a friend was having a bake sale and I donated some lemon cookies and thought we’d stop by and support it.  We turned out to find some cute stuff and it was all for less than $20!

We have been on the hunt for a chair for a sweet little desk Rayna has in her room that my sister gave me.  I painted it bright green and it’s adorable, but it just needs a chair.  You’d be amazed how hard it is to find the right sized chair, at a decent price.  They had this for $10, we got it for $8 and now it’s another project for me to paint.  I think we’ll paint it dark pink.

My picture is lame, but this wood & silver tray is really cool.  The lady who sold it to us (for $3) told us that her mother in law used to store decanters on it.  I don’t know what we’ll do with it, but it looks cool.

This is another purchase that might suggest that I entertain more often than I actually do, but for $1 I couldn’t pass it up.  It is mid-century pottery at its cutest: a leaf tray with three little condiment jars (only 2 spoons, womp womp) and my favorite part–a little flower bud toothpick holder.  I love this, and hey it was $1.

At our last stop, which was a big church sale (thank God for them–no pun intended–because 5 year olds can really put a damper on a big yard sale day when they “just can’t hold it anymore” and the church is offering potty facilities) there were tables and tables of pure junk.  Like hideous mugs, ancient and now useless kitchen tongs, etc.  and then I found that brown mug, which might look hideous to you, but I love it!  It is an old pottery type called Mar-crest daisy and dot, and as you can see I already have that bowl (and some other things) and this mug was just yelling to me for a quarter!

So while I regaled Marc with my quarter find, what to my wondering eyes should appear?  A dirty little McCoy vase for a buck!  I washed it up & promptly stuck it on my shelf:None of this stuff is “worth” a lot, even the McCoy is a Floraline vase, which is generally worth much less than my usual ones, but they made me very happy.   I hope this has inspired you to get out and start trolling some yard sales, or at least not make passive aggressive comments about my dish choices

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Graco. I was sent a Fast Action Fold ClickConnect Jogging Stroller to try.  All opinions are my own.

Despite my rather lazy attitude, I sometimes do workout. Lately, this even involves running. But I confess: I have never used a jogging stroller. Umbrella yes, Sit & Stand yes, Travel System yes. Jogger…no. So when I was approached about an opportunity to try the new Graco Fast Action Fold ClickConnect Jogging Stroller (say that five times fast) I was very excited, because now I would have no excuse not to strap baby Marc in my awesome new piece of equipment and hit actual streets.

He was game to try it out as soon as I put it together

When the enormous package landed on my doorstep, I unpacked it all (the stroller came with an infant car seat that fits in it “ClickConnect” style.  I am saving it, ahem.)  While my small people went to town on the cardboard box, I put it together in about ten minutes.  By myself.

I can’t brag too much that I am a big dummy when it comes to putting things together, because in my life, I have to put everything together.  Marc is either not around when I need something, or he just doesn’t have the mind for assembly.  But I can really assure you that putting it together was super easy.  You don’t need any tools, you just snap in a wheel here, snap on a tray there, and you’re done.

Putting it together was easy, and as the name implies, folding it closed is easy.  In order to close it the “fast action fold” just requires you to pull up on a red handle in the seat.  Just pull up the handle and the stroller doubles in half.  The best part (which you’ll realize is the best part when you’ve had a stroller that doesn’t do this) is that once it is closed it stands up on its own.  So while you’re jockeying the stuff in your trunk trying to make room for your stroller, it’s not crashing down and getting scratched on the pavement.

So, since our weather has been so rottenly cold, I put the stroller together and then I did not open it until it was time to attend our blogger event.  We attended a blogger event last week at the beautiful Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse.  Side note:  if you are in the Philadelphia area and have children, this place is a must visit.  It is right near the Zoo, tucked back in a park, and it is gorgeous.  There is a mansion full of toys, a huge wooden slide and a playground of children’s dreams.

Our mission for the event was to try out our new strollers with the help of the women from Stroller Strides of Cherry Hill.  It turned out to be a beautiful weather day, and we were all excited to see each other and work out.  Maybe not that last part as much, but I would try it

We lined up on the grass in front of the beautiful mansion

There was terrible traffic coming into the city from Jersey (I’ve learned to never take the Ben Franklin Bridge early in the morning, doh) so our fitness gurus were a little late to the scene and by the time we were beginning our workouts the kiddies were beginning to riot that we were trying to exercise while there was a fantasy land behind them.  Oops!  Luckily I will be doing most of my jogging stroller use with Marc while in less kid-idyllic surroundings.  Still, I got quite sweaty from the workout which uses your kids totally strapped in the stroller (so no excuses!).

I’m excited to get outside and (pathetically attempt to) run with Marc while Rayna is at school.  My two favorite features on the stroller are the trays.  The parent tray has a closed box (so you can put your keys inside and not worry about them bouncing out) and a really nifty clip to keep your smartphone locked into the stroller (either landscape or portrait, if you’re picky).  The child tray is key for storing lots of food and drink for the journey.  I heard one mom in my MOPS group mention that she feeds her son lunch in the jogging stroller while she works out so that he’s more occupied.  I thought that was a great idea since those of us with older babies hear a lot more “complaining” from the passengers when they are big enough to get out and run around themselves.

For those of you with smaller babies, the infant seat allows you to transfer your sleeping babe from car to stroller and back again without interfering with naptime.  I wish I had that two years ago!

Graco’s NEW jogger is the ultimate crossover stroller, combining all the comfort and convenience features of a traditional stroller (FastAction Fold and Click Connect Technology) with performance and maneuverability of an all-terrain jogger.

As an added bonus, Graco’s innovative one-second, one-hand FastAction™ fold automatically locks & is self-standing.

This post is sponsored by Graco.

From left: Sarah, me, Colleen's daughter Kenzie, Colleen, Linda & Lindsay

This weekend I attended the newest Social Media Mom Mixer event, hosted again by Colleen & Whitney.  You may recall that I went to their inaugural Mom Mixer which was more toy-focused.  This time, the headlining sponsor was Lands’ End and the event was more about Spring/Summer fashion.

Instead of trekking into the city by myself, I rode up with some fellow South Jersey girls, Sarah from Finnegan and the Hughes, Linda from Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps, and Lindsay from The Naughty Mommy.  That in itself was a fun time, because 1. I was saved from certain ruin by having someone less anxious than me drive and 2. It’s always fun to hear what other bloggers are up to.  They are great girls and I recommend checking out their blogs with haste

So once I arrived at the Mixer, I made my beeline to the Lands’ End booth to check out their line of bathing suits.  I know that women generally regard Lands’ End bathing suits highly (I feel like I grew up hearing about the “tugless” bathing suit), and I guess I would agree since I realized that my favorite bathing suit was Lands’ End.  (I bought it at Sears and somehow managed to forget this detail.)  They had SO many amazing suits, with pieces that all mix and match.  Some popular options were the really high bottoms so that “the roll” doesn’t pop out between the tankini top and the bathing suit bottom, the swim tee, which is basically like a lightweight long-sleeved shirt you can wear to provide fast & easy sun protection, and the line Lands End has created for women with mastectomies.  Basically, whatever makes you feel uncomfortable about wearing a bathing suit, Lands’ End has a product that addresses it.  I am picking up a new bathing suit this year and I’m definitely going to get one from Lands’ End!

One of the other brands being showcased that was generating a lot of buzz was Lee Jeans.  Lee was giving every attendee a free pair of jeans, so we got to try on several different pairs and choose one that we liked.  I was hoping for a pair of color jeans, but the ones in my size were bright orange(!) and I’d rather not draw that much attention to my rear.  So I went with a dark jean from their platinum label that were skinny leg with stretch.  I usually wear jeans from Old Navy, who apparently thinks that plumber’s crack is A-ok!, so these jeans are a little bit higher (but still not mom jeans!) and I am having less of that problem.  Hooray!

There were so many other great sponsors, McDonald’s was there handing out their new wrap sandwiches and also trying to debunk a few myths that most of us moms have about their company.  Koru yogurt was on hand packing coolers of their flavors to try and Alex’s Lemonade Stand was getting the word out on their fundraising endeavors.  It was a really fun event and big thanks to Colleen, Whitney, and of course all of the sponsors for making it happen!

Disclosure:  I received gifts from the sponsors at this event.  I was not paid or obligated to write this post, and all opinions are mine.

My little haul: $27.14 total

I’ve talked (literally, cause it was a vlog) about shopping the kids’ consignment sales before, but here I go again, writing a post about what I scored.  Why is it that women love to share what they buy?  I remember my mom and sister always elaborately displaying their purchases for anyone who would listen, and I guess I am doing the same.  Except that I never buy clothes for myself, because that would just be too depressing.

Anyway, I’ve had this post in “draft” mode for a while now, but I WILL dig myself out of my blog hole.  Does that sound weird?  Ok, moving on, for the last time…

What I got:

• Aladdin on VHS, because yes, we still have a VCR in the basement playroom.  Rayna picked this one up because she said we “haven’t seen Jasmine yet” and it was $2.
• Stride Rite sneakers (the blue and white ones) for $5
• Stride Rite sneakers (the blue pair) for $4
• Tinker Bell flip flops for $2
• Silver Mary Janes for $4
• Short sleeve Phillies tee for $2
• Handy Manny l/s tee (Marc loves Handy Manny!) for $5
• Carter’s purple checked l/s shirt for $3

So it wasn’t a lot, but I did manage to score some cute bargains.  Marc wore the purple checked shirt on Easter and he’s been wearing the Handy Manny shirt up a storm since, as I mentioned, he is obsessed with Manny   I bought this stuff at Just 4 Kids Consignment sale which pops up occasionally in Maple Shade, NJ.  They have another sale coming up, April 19-21.

I have consigned with that sale in the past, but I have been slammed with birthdays and holidays that I won’t be selling with them at all this spring.  But, I am registered to consign with Best Dressed for Less, which is a huge sale in Burlington, NJ.  They have that one twice a year at the Masonic Home in Burlington and it really is huge.  So May 3-5 if you’re in the area and in the market for kids/baby things, you should definitely check it out! (and hopefully buy some of my stuff)

So, it’s been the longest hiatus in the history of my blog, and I only have one reason: busy-ness & tiredness. Okay, so that’s two reasons. As you probably could’ve correctly assumed, we were at Disney for our vacation. Then we came home and had all the usual post-vacation nonsense, plus Rayna’s birthday extravaganzas, and lots of being tired in between. Instead of blogging I’ve been curled up in the couch catching up on episodes of Homeland.

Maybe some people don’t blog because they don’t feel like they have anything to say, when I feel like I don’t blog because I have too much to say, and then it overwhelms me. So I will have more posts about these topics, but here’s the brief rundown:

Disney. It was awesome & exhausting, especially for the mom of the family. We set out with a pretty ambitious schedule and we really accomplished so much. We did the three character breakfasts I mentioned (Disney Junior Play & Dine, Akershus and ‘Ohana) and the Wishes dessert party (yes, we thought it was worth it!). We also saw just about every character you can see (except Merida & Tiana, just because we ran out of time, oh! And no Captain Hook, as much as I wanted to see Rayna’s reaction to him this year). I’m going to post more about this once I get the Photopass pictures done and ordered.

The craziest thing? Rayna is FIVE. Five! My little baby. I say it all the time, but I don’t know where the time goes. We just signed her up for Kindergarten last week and my mind is blown. I made the mistake of having three separate birthday parties this weekend and I’m still reeling!

The last piece of news is that I’m dieting. Ugh. (I can’t say that without immediately groaning). I had been wanting to get my rear in gear for a while now, but haven’t had any motivation. My brother was over for one of the parties & told us about the “5-2 diet” he’s been doing (aka the feast or famine diet) and how he’s been getting results. Marc and I decided to start right away and yesterday was our first fasting day. I could only eat 500 calories (Marc gets 600) and it is WAY harder than it sounds. Sure there’s days when you don’t eat much, but 500 calories feels pretty impossible. But I got through the first day and am willing to give it a try. I have no energy for counting points or calories, this is pretty much only counting on two days. Plus, I had been thinking about fasting or giving something up, etc. since this is the Lent season, so this seemed interesting to me. I’ll keep you posted with how it goes!

So here’s to my irregularly scheduled posting again, yippee!

This week’s Vlogmom topic is actually one that I asked.  I want to know what your family background is, if you’re interested in genealogy at all, and then why or why not.  Ok, does that sound a bit pushy and also like a potential topic for a very long high school essay?  Don’t answer that, it’s too late, I already asked

In my latest vlog I discuss why I’m into the whole genealogy thing.  It basically has to do with me being kind of a geek who likes research and mysteries:

I really do want to know if you are into this or not.  I’m sure no one is really going to post their own response video on Youtube (though that would be amazing if you did!), but just comment and let me know what your story is like.  And be sure to check out the other vlogmoms here:

See why we have to do this again?

Yeah, so.  I am still having a terrible case of “can’t think about anything except my impending vacay” coupled with a random bout of strep throat (baby Marc of all people!  And they say babies don’t get strep…).  I feel like I haven’t had that much to say and then I realized that I promised some of you my Disney plans.  And that I can always talk about

So, first and foremost, I just discovered that if you want to buy the pre-trip Photopass+ (it is discounted if you purchase it before you go) that you have to do so 14 days prior to your trip.  I am kicking myself repeatedly over this.  I can’t believe I didn’t bother to purchase it earlier, now of course it is too late and I’m going to be stuck paying full price.  Full price is about $200, which is crazy steep but I do believe is worth it for us.  When you’re a photographically-challenged person such as me, combined with multiple character experiences and small kids, I say it is worth it.  Actually, I’m going to write a whole post about this later.

Now for the actual plans.  I told you that Marc has a conference the first few days, and for that portion of the trip we are staying at the Hilton at Downtown Disney.  I’m not one for staying off property with kids, but this is practically on property (and really, I have no choice in the matter).  You still get Extra Magic Hours and you still get bus transportation to the parks.  Whatever.  The first day (arrival day) Marc has to go right into conference mode, so I’ll be unpacking, shopping for necessities like groceries (I’m not doing Garden Grocer this time since we’ll have a rental car) and hitting up Downtown Disney.

My lovely friend Deb from A Frugal Friend (who I met at the very first Disney Social Media Moms) passed along this post about a fun little play area at the T-Rex restaurant.  I was already planning on going here for a meal at some point, mainly because I just signed up for the Landry’s club so I’ll have $25 credit to use.  I could also use that credit at Rainforest Cafe, but I’m trying to prep Rayna that we will not be going to RC since we have one here at home and we want to try different things.  :)  So the first day we will be just getting combobulated and having low-key fun at T-Rex and Downtown Disney.

When Marc’s working and I’m on my own with the kids for the day, I’m going to hit up Animal Kingdom.  I feel like this would be an easier park for me to do with the kids by myself and Marc wouldn’t be missing those iconic Magic Kingdom moments with us.  Aren’t I kind?

Once he’s done with this business nonsense, we are switching to the Yacht Club resort.  I’m very excited about this; we stayed at YC last year and loved it.  The pool area is amazing, you are just a short walk from the Boardwalk, and my favorite part: you can walk right into Epcot.  LOVE that!  There’s actually a character breakfast next door at the Cape May Cafe, but since Marc took the kids last year while I was in the conference, we are skipping that this year.

When it comes to character meals we are doing Akershus for some princess action, Disney Junior Play & Dine (because Special Agent Oso is a “must” for Rayna, isn’t that cute!?) and also ‘Ohana so we can 1.  see what all the fuss is about and 2.  get some quality time with Lilo & Stitch.  That’s kind of a lot of character breakfasts, but I figure we are at primo character stage here.  The kids are just shy of 5 and 2, and meeting characters is the main focus of the trip for them.  I figured Akershus would save us a little $ since it’s not as expensive as Cinderella’s Royal Table.  I was DYING to get a reservation to the new Be Our Guest restaurant, but it is booked solid of course.  I call all the time and there’s nothing open.  I am going to try my luck the week of (some people who can’t make it might actually cancel so they don’t get the charge on their credit card) and also try walking up and waiting.  You never know!

As far as other spendy extras, we are doing Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique again.  It was SO STINKIN’ PRECIOUS last year, and was really a highlight for all of us.  We bought Rayna the “Belle” dress at the Disney Store this last weekend (there was 25% off going on) and we’re trying the Downtown Disney location this time.  I’m definitely looking forward to this almost as much as Rayna

The other thing I’m trying is the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party for the Wishes fireworks show.  This is one thing that my friends (cough, Sarah) are telling me to skip, but I don’t know, I just really want to do it.  They basically have a little all you can eat dessert party an hour before the fireworks show and then you have a reserved space to watch the fireworks show over the castle.  Yes, the location may not be the greatest, but it is right in Tinker Bell’s flight path from the castle and I think that will just blow Rayna’s mind.  The other main factor is that I HATE crowds.  Like, more than hate them.  I think it’s another anxiety thing, but I feel really ‘fight or flight’ around crowds of people and I will just bail on the fireworks (and parades) because I can’t stand being around all the people.  Yes, there will still be people at this dessert party crowding around the railing, but it’ll be different.  I’m aware that I sound insane.

Do you have anything that you think is a “must do” for us?  I’ve been obsessively preparing for this trip and I am heinously excited, if you can’t tell.  I will gladly accept any and all suggestions on your faves, especially for the little people

I know that everyone thinks about death from time to time.  But I feel like I think about it more than others.  It’s not secret that I have lots of anxiety, so maybe that’s why–it seems like it goes hand in hand.

Well, I’ve always been sentimental.  I place a lot of emotional worth on things and stuff.  I have tons of things that I think “gosh, if something happened to “X Person” then I would feel so guilty that I had thrown this out!”  I don’t know if that’s being sentimental, a hoarder, or both

Very recently, when I started reading this book for the book club, Marc went out of town on a work trip to Italy.  Let me stop here and answer everyone’s question (because I got asked this a zillion times), No.  There’s no way I could’ve gone with him.  It’s funny to me how everyone thinks that 1.  I would mentally be able to leave my two young children alone while I schlep across the globe.  2.  I would have any type of week-long childcare to go on such a trip (when it’s like pulling teeth to go on a date every two months). 3.  That it would be worth the $ spent for me to travel with him.  And finally, 4.  That I wouldn’t be totally out of place on a work trip with Marc’s co-workers.

Oh wait, I’m digressing royally.  I was starting to say that Marc went on a trip to Italy, which was very out of the norm around here.  He does travel more than I’d like, but never out of the country, and usually not for so long (practically a week).  I found myself feeling very anxious about “all the things” that could happen to him travelling from Philly, to London, to Milan, to the village his meetings were at, and then all that in reverse to come home.  It seemed like lots of opportunities for danger!

I found myself doing morbid things.  I didn’t want to wash my sheets until he came back, because how could I live myself if he never came home?  When I did the laundry I had to keep one shirt aside, you know, because it smelled like him and what would I do if I didn’t have one of his shirts to smell for the last time!?

I’m aware that sounds nuts.  But I can’t be the only person who does this sort of thing right?  Reading Saturday Night Widows during this time was setting me over the edge.  Sure, many of the women had husband’s die from long illnesses and they had “time” to say goodbye.  But some of them had husbands who just dropped dead inexplicably after getting out of the shower or getting in an ATV accident while enjoying some recreation with friends.

THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME.  And that’s what freaks me out.  I try to keep everything “said” in my life.  I always tell my family that I love them.  I try to always “clear the air” after arguments, because life is just too short.  But it still doesn’t stop me from thinking those crazy thoughts, and from doing those morbid things.

This post was inspired by Saturday Night Widows by Becky Aikman. After being kicked out of her widow support group for being too young, Becky creates her own support group with an unusual twist. Join From Left to Write on February 14 as we discuss Saturday Night Widows. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.