Relay For Life Fundraiser!

Some of you may know that I volunteer with Relay For Life for 19 years...that's actually my longest standing relationship. ;-)

Relay 2014. 

When I started volunteering with Relay I didn't have a personal connection with cancer, I just wanted to do something good, and put my energy towards raising money to find a cure. Sadly, over the years, I have had multiple co-workers, family members, friends, and friends of friends do battle with cancer. Now I want to make sure Sky never hears "You have cancer".

It's part of why I sit on the Institutional Review Board for MultiCare Health System. Raising money, organizing teams, and chairing the Relay event was no longer enough for me. I wanted to play a more active roll in the research side of things. Because...that's where it's at folks. Research is going to cure cancer, and I want to be part of that. I'm no Dr. or scientist though, so the best fit for me was to help review research protocols, and assure the safety of human test subject, and monitor the validity of the research.

It all takes money though. There has to be funding to make the research happen! The American Cancer Society, via thousands of Relay For Life events around the world, is a huge fundraising machine that feeds the research that is finding cures (HPV vaccine that prevents cervical cancer = ACS funded research!), better treatment options (better results with less side effects), and services that support those going through cancer and those caring for them.

I'm still part of a Relay For Life team...Team Schulte. Aaron was a young (20's) man who was friends with our friends (Bob & Michelle). Sadly I never had the opportunity to meet Aaron because colon cancer took his life way, way too early. But, I know he was an amazing person because I have seen first had the impact he has made to those that knew him, and were lucky enough to call him friend.

Team Schulte participates in Relay in Aaron's memory and I'm proud to be part of the team. April 30th we are holding a fundraising event with Stella & Dot and Jamberry Nails (full disclosure I'm the consultant for Jamberry Nails).

A portion of every sale from both Stella & Dot (50%) and Jamberry Nails (10% from Jamberry directly and 40% of my commission) will be donated directly to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Lakewood through Team Schulte.

If you are local to the Tacoma area let me know if you would like to attend, there will be wine and snacks! If not please consider supporting our efforts by shopping these links: Stella & Dot or Jamberry Nails

Now is the time to shop for yourself, for mothers day, think ahead to anniversary/birthday/Christmas gifts and get your shopping done early!

Here are a few of my favorite things from each line!

I love the Silver Sutton and was happy to earn it when I hosted a party last month! I wear it all the time and love all the different ways to style it. Check out the link to see how many different ways you can wear it! The majority of Stella & Dot pieces can be worn in multiple ways, it's so versatile!

I also earned the Bianca Earrings and love how I can make them a simple little hoop if I want to. Makes them perfect for every day!

A few of my Jamanicures the last few months...if nails are not your thing they make great gifts for others, and there is Lacquer, hand care items (scrub, lotion etc), polish remover etc.

Upper East Side

Country Club this one is my favorite by far. LOVE it! 

Butterfly Effect & Edgy

Sheets of wraps are $15 each and are buy 1 get 1 fee. If you would like more info or help shopping to support the fundraising let me know, I'm happy to help! 

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Anyone else have fundraising efforts they participate in?

Travel Ready

Sky received an early Birthday gift over the weekend...a membership to Little Passports! I have had my eye on this since she was a baby, and finally it's time. She's starting to talk about places she wants to travel to, and is fascinated by maps and globes.

She has a passport, and has been to several countries already. Now we will have a new country to learn about every month, and will be cooking food from each country we receive in the mail.

She was so excited Grandpa!

She spent a lot of time going over the map and picked out Africa as the place she'd like to visit first. It may be a few years, but we will get her there some day!

Thankful Thursday

Things I'm Thankful For Today:

-Things Sky says. She is funny, really funny, and totally random, and makes me laugh when I probably shouldn't be laughing. "Give me some funk mommy", "My name is Shannon Kailey Yeatman,  you can call me Shannon", "I'm glad I'm your Sky mommy", "Not tomorrow mommy, today is today", and my favorite "I'm ready for my adventure today".

-My running goal this year was to get back into it (after the accident) and enjoy it. Pick fun races without setting any crazy PR goals. So far so good. I have two races on the schedule, both of which are bucket list races, and both of which will be fun experiences. I'm not going to lie, running still isn't feeling super awesome, but I'm doing it, and I hope if I'm smart it will get back to feeling less difficult. 

-Time in the sun to enjoy cheers with my munchkin. I can't wait for warm summer days lounging on the wine patio and basically living outside!

I really have no idea what shoes I wore before I got these ones...wear them every. single. day.

-Old Navy's Kiddo clothing. I don't know what happened, she went to bed a 3/4T and woke up a 5T and nothing fit. The quality & cuteness is great for the price.

-Taco night with Margarita's and Penzeys taco seasoning. Not bragging at all, but I've always made pretty great tacos, but now that I've discovered Penzeys taco seasoning they are so much better. It's like pitching the perfect game, and hitting a grand slam every 4th at bat! My nod to baseball season right there! :)

-Plans, things we are working on, possibilities. Not being vague on purpose...the thing is even if some of the plans don't work out, it's still fun to contemplate exciting things and see if we can make them work/happen.

What are you thankful for today?

Hello 40 - My Birthday In The City

Traditionally 40 is a big deal. I've never really understood why. Because there is a midlife crisis waiting to happen? Because it's all down hill after 40? Because there is an idea that life is half over? Yikes! I have no intention of being done when I'm 80, and life is getting better and better every single year.

It's just a number, that's all. And, being any number is better than not being. While Birthdays are special, I don't feel like 40 is any more or less special than any other birthday. I was torn this year because all I really wanted was a date day with my man. A day to explore Seattle and have a nice dinner. But, I didn't want to leave out friends, and was feeling a little pressure bucking the norm of a big 40th bash.

Since I have some amazing friends, family and husband I was able to have fun with friends, have time to myself Friday (my actual birthday), and have a Sky free date day in Seattle with Mark!

After lamenting to Michelle about not knowing what to do for my birthday she jumped into action and made all the arrangements for the two of us to have girls night out Thursday night at The Knee High Stocking Company, a speakeasy in Seattle. She even arranged for babysitting so I would be able to sleep in Friday morning, and Mark would be able to work from home without juggling Sky's needs.

The table in the upper right picture was our table! Photo - The Knee High's web page.

 In true Speak Easy fashion no signs, and a locked door I was doubting we'd even be let in. Thankfully we were, and we were able to enjoy some very unique beverages and really amazing small plates. So much fun, totally felt like we were in the roaring 20's!

 Cake pops make the perfect portion controlled & portable birthday cake! Nice finger Ben.

 Thankfully Ben and Alicia were able to join us, and we headed to The Pine Box after Knee High.

Friday was sort of perfect since I was able to sleep in, have a fun lunch with Sky, just the two of us, and get a massage that afternoon. I love sitting down with Sky and enjoying a treat or meal. We tend to be busy and running all over the place, but the conversations we have when we actually sit down without the distractions and to do list that's at home are pretty great. She was so excited to tell everyone it was my birthday.

Outfit for hanging out in Seattle with Mark. It was sunny, but cold so opted for long sleeves and boots to stay warm. (Can you spot the mini Olaf)? Thank you for the boots dad!

Saturday morning Sky went to the parent's house and Mark and I headed to Seattle to visit Penzeys Spices (so much fun picking out new spices and seasonings and being able to smell them in person first), see a play: Jacques Brel is Alive and Well & Living in Paris at the ACT Theater in Seattle, and have drinks, dinner, and more drinks at the The Saint. Then we came home and stayed up silly late watching a movie and slept in silly late the next morning before picking Sky up.

 Lunch/wine stop at Pike Place Market for lunch before the play.

Our seats for the play, thank you Jan and Gentry for the tickets. I LOVED it! Very unique because it wasn't really a play. 5 actors sung Jacques Brel's music, but they put every ounce of their heart and soul into each and every song. It was sad, funny, politically incorrect, moved me to tears at points, and utterly perfect! Jacques Brel  was a real person who influenced some well known artists such as Frank Sinatra and David Bowie to name a few.

 I guess it's only fitting that with a blog named Broken Tequila that a tequila bar in Seattle is one of my favorite restaurants in WA! Hermano - tequila, cointreau, lime, and serrano pepper = amazing!

Top: Alambres De Bistec - Grilled arrachera steak, salted cured pork belly, onion, poblano, slasa raja

Bottom: Suadero - Braised beef belly (the bacon of the cow), roasted tomatillo salsa, cilantro, red onion

Best of all The Saint made is special by bringing out free birthday dessert and providing awesome service. Totally worth the drive for the custom cocktails and delicious food!

Sunday afternoon was Easter dinner with the family and was the perfect way to end the weekend really. I'm so thankful I got to enjoy food, drink, and experiences with people I love. Mostly it was nice to have time with Mark that was about us, not focused on Sky. We got to talk, and set goals and make plans, and just be. It was perfect.

 Easter on the lake!

Very intent on her Easter Egg's!

Thank you to everyone who played a part in making my birthday the most perfect birthday! It was exactly what I hoped it would be! 

Thankful Thursday

Things I'm Thankful For Today:

-How calm Mark is when something goes wrong and is going to have a financial impact on us. Sometimes those impacts are hard to wrap my mind around with the single income. But, he's on it, and calm about it.

-My Jamberry business. It's not paying the "bills" just yet, (still it covers all it's own expenses and fun stuff like wine, hair cuts, race fees etc) but it may start paying the above mentioned, but not in detail, bill that we are facing.

-The cuddle time Sky asks for every morning. Makes the above stuff mentioned, but not in detail :), worth dealing with!

-The end of an era...I sold the jogging stroller this week. It made me a little sad, but we'll always have the stroller group and Santa 5K to look back on! So thankful for all the running time I got to spend with Sky thanks to this stroller! And, using that money for birthday dinner out with my man!

-Play dates with good friends. Let's be honest the play dates are more for the adults than the kiddo's, but they manage to have fun all the same!

 These girls have no fear at all!

-Fun nails, sparkly clothing, and a night out with Michelle tonight! Bonus, babysitter in the morning so I can sleep in! Thank you Michelle!

-New running shoes for my birthday. Hello Ultra Boost! We are going to log some miles together!

-Also thankful to have the perfect tank and headband for SB Wine Half...thank you Dad for everthing!

-That I'm ok being Sporty Spice. It's just who I am. I can clean up when I need to, but seriously this is so much more comfortable and practical day to day.

Sweatshirt Criss Cross from Athleta (Highly recommend it!), pants Aspire Ankle Pants Athleta (again highly recommend!), shoes adidas. I've worn this exact outfit Mond, Tues, and Wednesday. Don't judge. Thank you Dad!

Not a TT thing, but let's play a new game with pics. Since Sky is the only one with full length mirrors in her room I'm going to start hiding a small Olaf in all the pics I take (didn't do it the ones above) and you see if you can spot him. :) I'll clean the mirrors next time.

-For fun friends who give me ideas like hiding Olaf in pics! They make life fun!

-A Bowl Full of Lemons Spring Cleaning challenge. At the end of 30 days there will be things cleaned in this house that perhaps have never been cleaned before. :-/ No housewife of the year award here. 

What Are You Thankful For?

Dad and Daughter Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was the weekend between my Dad's birthday and my birthday, so we made plans to drive to E WA and combine the birthday fun!

This is how I road trip!

This is how Sky road trips...with a smile on her face, a few books/toys at her side, and her favorite blanket that has seen better days.

Traveling with Sky has, thankfully, forced us to find fun stopping points along the way. It works well that my Mom lives at the half way point and makes a nice lunch/dinner (depending on the time of day) and play stop. 

And, when you have worked so hard at your swimming skills, and move on up to the next class, it calls for "I'm proud of you" gifts from Grandma!

Looking at this picture I'm realizing she may be too tall for her car seat. I need to check the specks and see if it's time to move up to the next one. Growing so fast.

She was super sad about saying goodbye to Grandma and held onto the duck Grandma gave her the rest of the drive. She also scored new Roper boots (we love the feed store in Ellensburg...great kiddo boot selection and they always have sales!) that she is wearing non stop. Boots (real leather ones) for kids = brilliant because they outgrow them before they wear them out!

The rest of the weekend was full of good company, good wine, good food, and lot's and lot's of fun! I felt so spoiled not having to cook or do dishes the entire time. :)

Sky making pizza for all of us...she made my favorite Margarita, it's also the type of pizza I eat for dinner the night before races.

She was so pleased with herself!

One of the things I enjoy most about being a parent is watching her with other people. Usually I'm the one helping her help me cook, or do laundry, or whatever. To sit back and actually pay attention to the looks of frustration and satisfaction, and see how much she enjoys doing big girl things is eye opening really.

 Gluten Free crust for the win...this was one good pizza!

After that it was all about the wine tasting! We had so much fun winery hopping. It was a beautiful day, windy but sunny, which gave Sky an opportunity to run around outside and burn energy as needed. She really is pretty great about coloring and visiting with any and everyone else in the winery, she's fun to go tasting with actually.   

Birthday shoes! Apparently I needed them because I've worn them every day since getting them! 

It was so nice to sit out in the sun, getting our vitamin D, drinking reserve wines, and noshing on simple yet yummy snacks. My new favorite way to "shop" for wine to go with dinner...go wine tasting and pick it out that way! 

All too soon it was time to come home, but not before stopping in at my aunt and uncles to say a quick hello, and check out the progress in the vineyard. 

It's hard to believe that in a few weeks we will be there planting vines, and this will be a full fledged vineyard! It's going to be hard work, but I'm excited to be able to help!

Sky was not thrilled with all the goodbyes. She cried and cried after leaving Grandma, cried and cried after leaving Grandpa, and was down right pissed off after leaving my aunt and uncle. It took all of her favorite things, plus my special blanket (yes I have a special blanket that I travel with...can't sleep without it) to calm her down enough to fall asleep, and give us a break from the tears. She just loves her family so much it breaks her little heart when we have to leave. :(

All in all a great weekend celebrating birthdays! Happy Birthday to dad and me!