Have Fun, Stress Less When Vacationing with the Kids ~Post 3, 9 Final Tips

If you would like to follow along, there are two posts to this series. Have Fun Stress Less when vacationing with the kids Post 1, and Have Fun Stress Less when vacationing with the kids Post 2.

 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Pier August 2012 Vacation

1. When at your hotel keep clothes in suitcases. Why?? because it lessens what you have to do when you go to leave.
2. Use various Apps to get to know your area. Urban Spoon, Foodspotting, Yelp all are great for getting to know restaurants and what is good where you’ll be vacationing. Shopkick for deals, Raining Hot coupons and your local pharmacies for Apps to getting great deals when far from home.
3. Use coupons or online discount codes/ such as retailmenot.com and ebates.com for hotel/driving/shopping etc.
4. Grab a postcard for the family back home and send your greetings to them. Or do as we do, bring back some Salt Water Taffy. When we go to the shore we usually get Dolles on the boardwalk.
5. Collect Souvenirs of the trip. Examples could be ticket stubs, wrist bands, photos, seashells, sharks teeth, sand, postcards.
6. Make a project from those Souvenirs. Get a recycled jar and fill it with the items you collected and you’ll have a great memory to commemorate your spectacular fun filled vacation.
7. Before you book hotel find out what is available at the hotel for kids to do, Lazy River, Pool, Hot Tub, Games etc.
8. When you are finally vacationing, buy things as needed when your there. In case you forgot some things, don’t fret. It’s not like your going to a remote Island or anything, or are you?? Well then tweet those pics…
9. Before you leave the house make sure you clean it. Make all beds, take care of trash, run the dishwasher for the last time and empty fridge of things that will go bad. Use Glade Plugins to make your rooms stay fresh. When we came back home. I walked in my home and everything was done. Smelled fresh and not stale or dank. It was nice to know that I just needed to do the laundry and put the rest of the stuff away. But because I was so efficient from the start that took me an hour to do. Life’s Good!!

All in all realize that with a little preparation ahead of time, you can save yourself mounds of time and trouble from getting overwhelmed, to actually having fun and enjoying your vacation. Now school is back in full swing, so it’s “Back to Life, Back to Reality”, the song is playing in my head right now. Back to a brand new schedule for the year. Leave a some Comment Love, Yeah!! ~Christina

Have Fun, Stress Less When Vacationing with the Kids ~Post 2 14 more tips

 

Picture of Greenville, South Carolina “The Reedy River”

Today I am adding more tips to the series see my previous post to catch up “Have Fun, Stress Less when Vacationing with the kids ~Post 1 Streamlining the preparation with 15 easy tips”

1. If you have a DVD Player take along movies that interest various age groups & have a variety within children's reach.
2. Carry some cash, but make sure to have a debit/credit card and checks if in case you forget your money or credit card. I did just recently when my daughter and I got out nails done on vacation. I almost panicked then asked if they accepted checks. Whoosh saved!! That’s what I get for paying my bills online earlier in the day (forgetting my card at home by computer).
3. Plan on doing laundry 2 days before you leave and pick out fold and put into piles separated by child and adults. For example Shirts/Shorts/Socks/Underwear/1 pair of jeans/1 Hoody. Keep it simple and if staying 2 weeks, pack for 1 plus 2 days, on day 8 do laundry and you’ll be set.
4. Pack toiletries, I use a backpack for this, for separate pockets, yet I still use Gallon and sandwich bags to separate everything. For example: Separate 1 toothbrush and toothpaste into one sandwich bag, do this for all kids and adults/write on them with a sharpie everyone’s names. Bundle Shampoo/Conditioner/Hairspray into a Gallon Baggie. I put full sized soaps into separate baggies, since we have a family of six, we put hotel soaps to shame. Razors/Shave Creams/Soaps bundled together Gallon Baggie. I put my moisturizer/body spray/deodorant into one separate Gallon Baggie. My husbands into another. I have used many different types of toiletry bags and stuff gets spilled all over, so this is what works then if you need something, take out a bag at a time. Easy!!
5. I grab a variety of chips in a pack, usually Lay’s. I used to buy separate snacks for everyone, but the Lay’s variety bag has a cinch top and you can put some more snacks in it like granola bars and peanut butter crackers. My kids can get car sickness so we bring mini coke bottles and mini waters. I buy these the day before and stick them in the fridge so they are nice and cold when I arrange them in an insulated bag.
6. Pack the car/van/suv/truck the night before and stick everything your kids need i.e.: pillow/blanket/stuffed animals/chargers etc. near their seats. Also make sure you have baby wipes in middle console, change for tolls, within reach (if needed), GPS system charging and ready to go.
7. Pack a mini first aid kit and put it into glove box. Include in it band aids/Neosporin/pain medicine/alcohol swabs.
8. Hand sanitizer
9. Are pets coming with? We brought our cat with us to South Carolina. I included cat litter in a plastic bin with lid for the drive. I brought food/water/mini bowls/leash/cat carrier/kitty blanket/litter pan and toys.
10. Recycle your plastic bags. Use them for trash/kitty litter cleanups/change of clothes for kids/wet clothes/laundry.
11. When I pack the suitcases and we are staying over night 1 night and breaking up the drive. I pack individual bags with 1 outfit/socks/underwear/swimsuit for pool/pj’s for each person and stick them all in a tote bag, instead of unloading whole van. And bringing everything in. One bag, easy!!
12. Do you have your hotel confirmation numbers written down or a printout of it? Bring drivers license, license plate number, phone numbers of hotel and emergency numbers/ health insurance cards ( my son got strep the second week we were in South Carolina) keep them handy for anything you anticipate on the trip.
13. Bring a folder of bills that may be due when your gone and hopefully you booked a hotel that has free wifi or use your smart phone to pay them. Or go to the lobby and use the free computer.
14. Bring crayons/tablets for drawing/mini games/markers/crayon books/chargers/DS’s/PSP’s/video games etc. for keeping the kids occupied.

To be continued… there are more tips to come about the drive and when your actually there at your destination.

It’s Labor Day weekend and I may not get anymore tips up until the long weekend is over. Hope you have a Great Labor Day ~Christina

Have Fun, Stress Less when Vacationing with the Kids ~Post 1: Streamlining the preparation with 15 easy tips

Vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina -August 2012

With a little bit of planning you can have a “FUN” vacation, but you need some tips to prepare yourself ahead of time when traveling/vacationing with kids. The following are steps you can take to use as a guideline. I’m telling you I am the master at traveling light and effortless, since we had to travel back and forth from Indiana to Pennsylvania every year. The following may be a little out of order but extremely helpful.

1. Think out your whole trip ahead of time. Sort of a budget before the month begins. So you know mostly what to expect and life isn’t too out of sorts for you and your kids. Preparation is key.
2. Determine your length of stay, a couple of days, a week, 2 weeks or more, then you can plan around this time accordingly.
3. If you are driving, will you drive all the way through or break the trip up. I break the trip up by staying over night in a hotel if the drive is longer than 7 hours. Since I have four kids ages 16, 12, 9, and 7, you can see why. I do want to get to my destination, but with my sanity intact!!
4. What amenities does the Hotel/Villa/Condo have for convenience once you’re there. Don’t be surprised at what they have and don’t. Get acquainted with their policies online for pets, gym, pool, laundry, and access to the outside, the internet and ATM, oh and do they provide a free breakfast?
5. With hotels, are you going all-inclusive or are there any hidden fees. Also, sign up for their club card if applicable to maybe earn nights or get coupons and discounted stays. My husband is a “Priority Club” member of HolidayInn so that helps earn free nights for us if we choose to go with HolidayInn.
6. Check various websites, like hotels.com or priceline, orbitz, expedia, travelocity to find and compare hotel deals. I did this and then went to my hotel website to see if they had anything to offer. They actually had the lowest pricing. So I booked on the hotel site. You can also check for coupon codes for a better deal.
7. Pack lightly, Don’t pack “Just In Case” style. So that you don’t have too much to bring with you.
8. Check the weather for traveling to and from your destination. So that you are prepared for what is to come for the most part.
9. Make sure trunk is packed efficiently. Where you can see through the back window safely, or if your lucky to have a case for on the roof of your car, this will not apply.
10. If staying longer than a week, will you need to do laundry? If so, do they have a service that they will bill to your room. Or laundry facilities that you can use. Remember to get a roll of quarters if that’s the case.
11. Can you get away with packing kids clothes in a backpack, they can carry it on their back and help take things to the hotel room. This is how I would always pack my little ones things, but now their clothes are getting bigger so I have to stuff into a small wheeled suitcase. I would sometimes double up 2 in 1 suitcase.
12. Bring Ziploc bags in various sizes: Gallon, Quart, Sandwich.
13. Separate Kids and Adults phone/laptop/iPod/tablet etc chargers, into baggies. Then the ones you need when traveling in car can be easily reached for if mom keeps them in purse or where kids will be seated.
14. Moms, always keep camera and Smartphone in purse for those times when you need to take a quick picture or make a phone call.
15. Make a list of the things you will need for the trip. That being said, will you need snacks, drinks, medication, special needs, batteries, tickets? Write it down so you don’t forget when your at the store.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this post so far, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow… to be continued. So stay tuned for Part 2. Hope you have a great start to your weekend. See you tomorrow!! ~Christina

 

 

 

What’s in my Purse Tour, Organizing My Chaos & 22 Purse Must Have’s

So I got my new purses and can only use one at a time, oh darn. So here’s the one I chose. The black one for now and I’ll change it up, when the mood strikes. I don’t know about you but, I cannot have too deep of a purse, in fact I prefer a more shallow purse that is wide so that when I go to dig for something it doesn’t take long to find my items. I have to have an organizer in my purse too it keeps everything in it’s place Now I just need to get an apparatus to hold all of my fly away receipts and a trash can installed and I’ll be set. hehe. See how beautiful it looks all nice and neat. Trust me it’ll start filling up with receipts soon don’t worry, so I have to clean it out at least once a week.

Here’s a list of my “Must Have’s” for a purse that survives a chaotic household.

1. A cell phone pocket.
2. Sunglass holder pocket.
3. A Kangaroo pouch, a big purse organizer turned inside out and a small one put inside it. Easy to see into and keeps chaos organized. Or a purse organizer of some sort.
4. Pens for when you need to write notes. 
5. Markers and Note Pad (I always seem to run out of these, need a stockpile for sure), for those creatively sparked ideas when your out and about.  For me it’s usually for the home or my blog.
6. Lipstick, organized upside down so I can see what color I am hurriedly reaching for, gotta have this handy.
7. A card holder, just for health insurance cards, kids pictures, social security cards, and store cards. Will be doing a tutorial on what I did to put all of my large store cards together, even though I have the key fob ones attached to keys, at a later date.
8. I have a sample sized deodorant on the left side pocket and usually my body spray is in there somewhere, need to go get some more. Love Vampire, I get this at Rite aid. I get so many compliments on it, people follow me around.
9. Girly items inside discreet pocket.
10. Kabuki brush (not shown) for touch ups.
11. Hand Sanitizer
12. Change (especially quarters) for when your kids bug you to do the claw.
13. Band-Aids and Neosporin for the boo-boos.
14. Chargers when on the go.
15. Small pouch of wipes or napkins for messes. Also keep wipes in my car too.
16. Small trial sized hairspray.
17. When I am at a family function for a couple of hours I take a mini makeup kit, for touchups, cause we get to laughing and there I go touching my face again.
18. Small snacks for car drives.
19. Stamps
20. A couple of plastic sandwich bags for trash, more organizing etc.
21. I stick my keys right on top or stuff them in next to my check book.
22. A Checkbook Cover and Checkbook I really don’t ever use my zipper because it is so impractical with 4 kids that I have no time for fussing at the store counters. So it stays unzipped but I always carry it on my forearm for safety. You’ll notice in the next picture that my cell phone looks damaged and melted, well I left it in my car in 100 degree heat, which I don’t recommend, still works though.Now go organize that purse of yours. Just dump it like I do and start all over. Sometimes my daughter even reorganizes for me. Any questions, contact me on the side bar or Please leave a comment. Thanks for reading, Christina

Charming Charlie (My Favorite Accessories Store) Purse Haul

So I was vacationing in Greenville, South Carolina and to my wonderful surprise they have a Charming Charlie store. I absolutely love this store. It can be overwhelming though, if you’ve never been. I have been to the one in Fort Wayne, Indiana, another one in Collegeville, PA and now Greenville, SC. Collegeville is one of the biggest so far. They have every accessory under the sun, from Shoes to Belts, to Purses, to Jewelry, Hair accessories and even Blouses. THE BEST PART about Charming Charlie is…..It’s all color coordinated. Clapping like a Seal right now, just walking in is inspiring let alone buying something. If I worked there they’d have to take my check right back, because it would be spent on the spot. Love!! So when I went into the CC’s at Greenville, they were having a BOGO on top of their red tag items. I guess to make room for the new product coming in. Well I got 2 purses and a pair of sunglasses for $27, yes $27 I was so glad I waited to get a purse, cause I was able to afford 2 and shades to boot. Here’s my Black purse: This was “Free” only $9.99 marked down and it was part of the BOGO deal. Gotta love the Gold chain.

Then here’s the purse I bought marked down to $18 Little bit of bling, soft and nice wide straps. So which one will I choose to use for now, stay tuned…

 

Here’s another post I wrote a while ago during my month long posting Challenges, fyi, Day 18 Challenge about CC’s.

So I encourage you to save yourself some money and check out Charming Charlie, if you don’t have one near you, no problem you can buy everything online. Yeah! Go take a look at all the pretties. Have fun shopping, ~Christina

After the Birth, Baby Gifts~ Memory Keepsake Photo

You go into the hospital for labor and delivery and you come out with the most precious of gifts a baby girl, then she starts to grow up. That little baby is now 9 years old and time surely does fly. I want to thank myself for taking the time out to take photos of what she received when she was born. Now, she and I have a memory, of the sweet things people got for her then. Soon after we came home, since everything is in bags, boxes and such, I cleared off the kitchen table and sat everything on it. Then a couple of days later, when I had the time between feedings and diaper changes, I arranged them into a display and took several photos up close. Here is one of the photos I took. Including flowers, clothes, cards, stuffed animals, baby blankets etc. I think this is a great idea to remember those baby days for Mother and Child. Start planning now for when you go to deliver (if your expecting) and you’ll be so pleased to look back on such a wonderful time. I know I am. ~Christina

Wonderful Mediterranean Eats at River Place Greenville, SC

Way back in June my husband had an interview in Greenville, SC for a new job, so I came along with him to get to know the area. I was also due for a mini vacation. The first day he was interviewing I decided I would order food close by our hotel room at The Hampton Inn, overlooking The River Place Downtown Greenville. The Lazy Goat Restaurant which was literally underneath my hotel room, was a perfect choice. Wonderful Mediterranean food might I add. Before I even get into my meal, I have to say I am big on great first impressions and I give Props to The Lazy Goat, for friendly service, cozy atmosphere, and their superb take-out presentation. They had no idea that I was a blogger and delivered more than expected. Well here’s my gift bag of yums: Nice sturdy bag with plenty of napkins, utensils, and everything was wrapped up tight. This is how it should be no matter where you go!!

Harissa Whipped Hummus: crisp veggies and warm pita $7

This was my appetizer. My personal review of this is ~~~~~ 5 tizzy’s (my version of 5 stars). Warm homemade hummus, add to it warm and chewy pita bread plus some crisp crudités on the side. I couldn’t get over the flavor of their homemade hummus, puts store bought to shame! There is an immense difference. It has way more texture and for crunch they sprinkle sesame seeds on top. So Good!! PS I did save some for my hubby, but we ended up going out to another place that evening. So it was my midnight snack later on. Italian Grilled Cheese Panini (pesto, sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella) $5

This is what I had for my meal, my review of this was equally ~~~~~ 5 tizzy’s, perfect pesto with ripe, juicy tomatoes, warm smooth and creamy mozzarella, on a fresh warm roll. MMM, it was “PENTANOSTIMO” ~five times tasteful!!!

I recommend if you are ever in Downtown Greenville, SC that The Lazy Goat would be on your must eat at list. You can also eat outside at night overlooking the river and lighted waterfall fountains. Take in the atmosphere combined with the outdoor bands/DJ’s playing music across the river, makes for wonderful ambience, especially for a date night with your spouse. Enjoy!!

Some of my latest Pinterest Pins

Come by my Creative Tizzy Pinterest Pins boards and start pinning and following me. See you there!!

Pinterest Pins~How to See All of your Pins or Boards at One Time

How Neat is this. I use this Zoom thing all of the time and I think that its my best kept secret, except for “Pinterest” itself. Since I use Photoshop Elements 9 all of the time, I am constantly using the Ctrl key plus + or – keys to Zoom in or out, makes life so much easier. So I decided, for all of you Pinners out there who would love to skip the scroll to top button, that I’d make a little Tutorial on: How to see all of your Pins or Boards at one time. So let’s get started:

 

I know that if you have too many pins that they will be microscopic, but if your like me with just over a thousand pins you’ll still be able to tell what your pins look like. Well there you have it. Remember you can use Ctrl plus + or _ on your window even if you are on another website like google, go ahead and try it out. Have fun and make sure that you link up to my Creative Tizzy Pinterest Boards Page as I would love to follow you and have you follow back. XOXO Christina

2 Minute Microwave Scrambled Eggs in a Mug

When I’m not making my low calorie eggs on the stove and don’t really feel like cooking, this is what I do. This breakfast is so easy even a cave person could do it, hehe!! Here are the ingredients:

The first thing that you want to do is add 1/4 teaspoon butter or margarine into the mug, slide it around the bottom so that the eggs won’t stick, there should be no chance of that since we’re using milk, but I use it and it also adds flavor.

Next you want to add 4 tablespoons milk, 2 for each egg.

Next crack your eggs into Mug.

Stir briskly with a fork till all scrambled, butter will be in chunks, but that’s normal.

Microwave on High for 1 Minute

This is what they look like after 1 Minute, your half way there, now put them into the microwave for 1 more Minute.

All Done and scrambled up nice and fluffy.

A close up shows how nicely cooked they get.

It’s time to eat them so now I have to go. By the way I made 3 links of precooked frozen turkey sausage, they took 1 1/2 minutes. Then a side of fresh spinach with a little butter and that took 1 minute, a total of 4 1/2 minutes cooking with my microwave. Not a bad breakfast for 1. Now go give this a try. It’s fun, fast, and yummy! ~Christina

No waste proper Avocado picking, peeling, and storage tips and tricks

This is a quick follow-up to my Lemony Avocado Tuna Salad Sandwich post where I used Avocado. Well I happen to think that I am a Master at Avocado picking and peeling with no waste.

Here is what I do: First, I test for how firm an Avocado is, depending on when I am going to use them, or if I am going to wait to use them. If I use them right away I make sure they have a little give, sort of semi-firm, the next day they should be perfect to use.  The color should be dark green almost black. If they are all the way black then they are too mushy and will be bruised and almost rotten inside. If I am going to wait a couple of days I buy the green ones and ripen them at home. I’m impatient so that is very rare for me unless I have no choice.

Tip: Be weary of the little sticker that says, RIPE, because that usually means they are not for you to eat, they are past their prime.

I then score with a sharp knife around the middle while turning the avocado.

Next I twist the Avocado to get two separate halves.

Shown here with nut attached.

So really, how do you properly get the nut out with the most meat left.  Pop knife into the nut while on counter, then hold half and twist it out and it should release. Now the Avocado I had was a bit too soft for doing this so it did get a little messy, but if it was a tad bit firmer it would have released with practically nothing attached to it. Easy!!

Score the half Avocado several times you can even do cross cuts too, but I have found slicing is easiest to remove and cut it in half shown here: why do I cut it in half again, well it makes it so easy to peel the skin right off. I don’t show the peeling part but if you have a perfectly ripe Avocado then the skin should peel off with no meat left in it. Like turning a page to a book, or peeling a banana. Be gentle and you’ll get everything out, no need to use a spoon. Guaranteed!!

Here’s the best part, if your not using the other half and want to use it the next day (recommended) then add lemon juice to it to stop it from browning and adds a little flavor too. 

Stick in a plastic baggie and get as much air out as possible, helps with no oxygen getting to it either. 

Turn upside down, well why you ask, well I’ll tell ya: this keeps it from getting any air to the meat. Then store in the fridge upside down till the next day, and you will find there is really no oxidation. So try it, hope this helped you out. ~Christina 

Lemony Avocado Tuna Salad Sandwich

So I love Avocado and try to put into everything, even my Oatmeal, just kidding! Anyways, this could be a lower calorie sandwich if you substituted the white Italian bread with Multigrain or Potato bread and using vinegar and olive oil dressing with herbs mixed in. I chose the fattening route, hey once in a while its ok. All in moderation.

You start out cutting up the lemon,

Add your whole can of tuna to a bowl and break it up, squeeze lemon onto tuna, mix in.

Now add 1/2 an avocado after you‘ve cut it up. I will be posting a short tutorial on an easy way to cut up an avocado without wasting any of the meat inside, following this post. 

Cut up your celery (for crunchiness) and add to the mix.

Add 2 tablespoons of mayo and stir.

I added salt at the end, but you could omit it. There are different variations you could do, so knock yourself out. It was a yummy sandwich. ~Christina

Bottomfeeder Snack Mix…Easy How To

Your probably wondering what Bottomfeeder Snack Mix is. Well it’s a term I’m using to describe the combined bottom of the bag snacks, I currently have in my pantry. I really get tired of the many wandering leftover snacks, so I decided to do something about it. Here is the before….

Here is the After, it was an Ahhh Moment. I dumped every snack that was dwindled down to the bottom into a Gallon sized baggie. Now it not only looks fresh, but its something my kids like. So now instead of throwing out the bottom of the bag scraps, they now have purpose, to be EATEN. Hope I’ve inspired you to clean out your pantry and repurpose your wandering leftovers. ~Christina