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Gosh, it’s fun to fly.

April 30, 2009 By

I’m home from Stouffer’s! I have a pile of mail and packages to go through and I have to take Nathan to “Meet the Teacher” night at the school he’ll be going to in the Fall, plus I’m so tired that I fell asleep on both flights home today.

Speaking of my flights…I headed to the airport from the hotel this morning with Carmen, Lisa, Deb, and MJ.  Carmen was on a different airline, but Lisa, Deb, MJ and I were all flying from Cleveland to Detroit before splitting off for separate connecting flights home. 

We missed our flight. We got to the gate and the door was closed, the agent had left, and we could see the plane out on the tarmac headed to the runway. An airport employee pointed us back towards ticketing where we had to go to rebook our flights.

So there the four of us were in ticketing, MJ on the phone to Northwest, Lisa on the phone to Simon with Publicis PR, and miraculously, there were four unsold seats on the next plane going to Detroit which was in less than an hour. We printed our boarding passes, went through security again, and then went to the gate. Yes, we made the flight :)

So, we get off the plane in Detroit, and I’ve got about 25 minutes until my connecting flight is boarding. They made us gate-check our rolling suitcases, so we had to wait for those. And wait, and wait, and wait. By the time I got my bag, I had 15 minutes to get from the end of C terminal to the other end of B terminal.

At least I didn’t have to go to A terminal like Deb, which involves escalators and the supremely annoying tunnel with the flashing lights and loud music.

So I make my connecting flight, we board the plane, push back from the gate, and then stop. The pilot comes on and says there’s a “mechanical problem”, and we have to go back to the gate for it to be fixed. And it could be anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes until we take off. Yippee.

I promptly fell sound asleep, barely registered take-off, and woke up with a start when we landed and the pilot slammed on the brakes (or whatever they do to stop the plane) making everyone lurch forward in their seats. I was just glad that my Dad and Stepmom were at my house and that Ryan could stay with Kaitlyn so they could come get me.

I want to tell you a lot more about the event itself, but right now I have to take Nathan to this scavenger hunt/get to know your new school thingy, so Nathan can learn how to open a locker and whatever.

Also? I am SO looking forward to sitting on the couch with Chris tonight watching DVR’d “Lost” and “Rescue Me”.  If I don’t fall asleep, that is.

Filed Under: Personal, Stouffer's Let's Fix Dinner event Tagged With: , , ,

Hello from the Nestle Culinary Center!

April 29, 2009 By

cross-posted from MomCooks:

stouffers_logoYesterday, Nestle flew me to Solon, Ohio to attend a day-long conference and roundtable discussion on the topic of Let’s Fix Dinner. This morning we started out in the Nestle Baking Kitchen meeting with Jenny from VeryBestBaking.com and eating fresh-baked cookies (YUM). Then we moved into their Culinary Center which is like a huge kitchen with grills and a wood-fire pizza oven station and people chopping and grilling and mixing.

There is Pecan-Crusted BACON, people. I am in heaven.

We’ve only been here an hour and I’ve already been reminded of just how loyal I am to the Nestle brand. I’ve mentioned before that the only acceptable chocolate chip cookie as far as my husband is concerned is ones made with Nestle Toll House Mini Morsels.

Other products made by Nestle include Carnation Condensed Milks, Libby pumpkin, Pria bars, Powerbars, and of course, CANDY. There’s a little tray sitting in front of me with mini butterfingers and nestle crunch bars.

BACON COATED IN BROWN SUGAR, ROLLED IN CRUSHED PECANS, AND BAKED. NOM NOM NOM NOM.

We’re having presentations from a psychologist, an expert on raising teens, Antonia from last season’s Top Chef, and our moderator is a famous Cleveland newscaster. Pretty cool.

I’ll be twittering regularly today with the hashtag #letsfixdinner if you want to keep an eye on those.

I NEED MOAR BACON.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/table4five/

Filed Under: Stouffer's Let's Fix Dinner event Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Guest Post: Bedroom Makeover for Boys

April 28, 2009 By

I’m traveling to Ohio today, so for your reading enjoyment, I have a guest post from Khara at CSN Stores about how to decorate and organize a boy’s bedroom, especially if you have two boys sharing a room like I do. I’ll check in from the Cleveland Marriott later tonight!

Bedroom Makeover Tips for Boys

In every home, there comes a time where the animal decals or transportation themed decor just isn’t cutting it for your preteen boys and you want to incorporate a creative bedroom theme that is more appropriate for their age. For young boys that share a small bedroom, space can always be a factor which is why organizing existing or new furniture in a certain way will optimize the area your children have to play and hang out.

One way to get started is through the major pieces of furniture that you choose to add such as a bunk bed set, captain’s bed or two twin size beds supported by bed frames. Just as in baby furniture, the furniture’s comfort, safety, and style of are all important factors to consider in achieving the updated young boys’ bedroom look you’re going for.

Once you’ve determined the updated bedroom set, find a corner of the room where most of the furniture can be positioned whether in bunk bed format or in an L-shape with two smaller beds that line two walls of the room. Multi-level beds provide a larger area for adding in a desk or study area for when your children need to do homework or read for class. In terms of decor, it’s always beneficial to choose a theme that your sons agree upon such as their favorite sport or outdoor hobby. Smaller bedrooms also benefit from shelf installations that can be added above a student desk for textbook storage, school supplies, and interesting decor that adds warmth to the room.

In any young boy’s bedroom, it’s important to take into consideration the extracurricular activities they enjoy participating in on a regular basis in order to keep them engaged and excited about both school and fun events. Perhaps they are into basketball, karate, or baseball and want to live in an environment that encourages that activity. One way to keep that space creative is by applying a decorative wall decal of their favorite baseball park or arena as well as sports themed bed linens and accessories. In order to keep a balance between work and play, try isolating one section of the room for study sessions. This can be an area that’s easy for you to bring in an extra chair and help them along with any homework questions that come up along the way.

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