Starbucks Spring Blend and My New Spring Celebrations (Hint: It's Chaos) @Starbucks @ModernMom

Happy spring!!!

As a child growing up in South Central Pennsylvania, spring was hot, windy, snowy, rainy, cold or practically any other weather you could imagine.  It was also when families- determined to free up closet space or living in denial- would pack away the winter gear and send the kids outside no matter how poor the weather conditions were.  It was spring and we were going to enjoy it!

I’ve always been a creature of comfort.  Tradition is my way of life.  Every Christmas we go to the same places and see the same people at the same time.  Birthdays are spent partying with friends and family.  Mornings are spent drinking coffee (preferably a smooth blend of Starbucks).  I always welcome new people, but new places throw me off and a totally new schedule causes an internal meltdown.  For less significant activities I’m okay with a little variety.  I wasn’t too upset to leave the Mother’s Day Street Fair early the year that it felt more like mid-January than May.  I won’t cry if we don’t go to the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade every year. 

But this spring has been a major test for me.  It’s truly been a season of change, stress, little sleep and crazy days.  I’ve been thrown out of my comfort zones and have been busier than ever.  I’ve been much more active in Girl Scouts, and even managed some (stressful) camping and overnight trips.  Rather than our yearly Easter dinners, egg-decorating and Easter egg hunts with family and annual birthday party for my daughter, Amara and I had a girls’ weekend with my mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law and sisters-in-law.

Leaving my little boys overnight was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  
 

Love these guys!

And the ones that wouldn't let me take photos too.

Before this year, I had never been away from them overnight.  They have left me- going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house or Nana’s but that’s different.  When they go away I can retrieve them in a flash.  When I was gone, I was hours away and too busy to call.  I was missing them and wishing they could enjoy my experiences.  Not that I didn’t have fun; I spent the night and following day at the Philadelphia Zoo.  I had a girls’ weekend in Manhattan.   

FAO Schwarz, NYC girls' weekend and 9th birthday celebration.

I camped in a lodge at a beautiful campsite in perfect weather.  I went to a PTO Expo in Philadelphia (yes, that IS fun!).    

What’s kept me awake during these long days and sleepless nights?  Coffee!  During these busy weeks, thanks to the awesome Starbucks and Modern Mom, I’ve been downing Starbucks Spring Blend coffee, stopping in the Starbucks in NYC (on Broadway!) for a drink and an awesome new mug and chugging it to get through another few hours after 4 hours of sleep. 
 

Starbucks on BROADWAY!!!  I think you can see a Broadway sign in the background.  Can you see my new #Starbucks mug?

Here's a close-up.  It's the New York skyline!  But there's more:

A taxi AND a Starbucks store on the mug!

And here we are outside of #Starbucks with Ellen's Stardust Diner in the background.  Awesome place!

I even brought a few VIAs with me when I went camping, since I knew they wouldn’t have a coffee maker. 

By the way, that Starbucks Spring Blend I mentioned?  It includes notes of milk chocolate and sweet orange.  I thought this might be strange, but it's probably my new favorite.  It combines beans from Latin America and East Africa.  I'm not an aficionado so I'll describe it as best as I can.  It's smooth and just strong enough.  A hint of the flavors can be smelled when it's dry and it smells amazing.  When it's brewed, it smells and tastes like good coffee. I had a picture of it but a virus got my computer and currently my photos from the last month or so are missing.   

So anyway, while this has been an incredibly difficult time for me, it’s also been full of amazing experiences.  I fell in love with the orangutans at the Philly Zoo.   

The hippos were pretty cute too.  And how can you not adore a massive, dumb rhino?  They are afraid of birds.  Tiny birds!  They have no idea how big they are and are scared of everything.  

While visiting New York we had the opportunity to stay in China Town, tour the skyline by boat, eat amazing food (Lebanese was awesome and the servers at Ellen’s Stardust Diner sing!!!).   

 

Can we join the crew at Ellen's Stardust Diner?

We were serenaded on our first ever subway ride, 

Lucky Amara getting a nice song for her birthday.

we walked to Times Square and listened to live jazz while eating brunch.  Central Park was mind-blowing!   

Look at that skyline!

No, really, just look at that!

I never expected the size and seeing the city behind the trees was amazing.  The amount of people (so many people!) but there was still so much space!  We took a carriage ride around and learned about some landmarks in and around the park.  We watched the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center and checked out all of the gorgeous Easter egg art on display.  I played chess with a guy in Washington Square Park- and I won!

He said he was rated near 2000.  I think he was just flattering me.

While I missed out on a lot of family moments this spring, I wouldn't have changed anything for these experiences.  I'm grateful for the memories we've created and I'm glad I had some energetic family members and Starbucks coffee to keep me awake!

How else could I keep up with these girls?

Do you have any spring traditions or memories? 

 




Starbucks and Modern Mom provided me with Starbucks Spring Blend ground coffee and a gift card to try some great mugs and other coffee.  All opinions are expressly my own.

Throwback Thursday: My Blog's Myers-Briggs, 2009 and Now

I must be really bored, or I'm totally avoiding a dozen things I really need to do.  Because today I'm doing a throwback to my 2009 Myers-Briggs blog personality test.  

I am:

Back in April of 2009 I decided I needed to test my blog's personality.  I had to make sure my blog and I were on the same page.  So I visited Typealyzer  to check.  The Typealyzer determines your personality based on your blog writing. You type in your blog address and within a few seconds you get a result. Then it matches your blog to a personality type, based on the Myers-Briggs personality test.  Fun!

I like looking back on the past.  Plus, I have to make sure I don't repeat any bad history.  

So here's what my (old) blog personality was like:  
ESFP - The Performers was my 2009 blog.  When I take the actual  test I go back and forth between extroversion and introversion depending on my mood.  I typically end up with sensing over intuition but it changes sometimes.  I've never been anything but an FP- Feeling and perception, rather than thinking and judgement (TJ).    

My 2014 blog is also an ESFP. 

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.


__________________

Is that me?  Entertaining?  Maybe.  I see myself as boring.  Friendly?  Definitely!  I do see importance in my surrounding- I like to feel, smell and see nice things (who doesn't?).  As for living in the present moment and not planning ahead...well I plan all the time but tend to make impulsive decisions anyway.  I am constantly exhausting myself with my thoughts and plans for the future.  It's very overwhelming being me.  While I am impulsive, I have the most amazing self-control when it comes to shopping.  I can window shop like a pro. 


I do enjoy work where my effort shows, whether or not it is with people.  I always try to avoid conflicts and I will not initiate confrontation.  Ever.  So that is spot-on.  I never did have a problem working in management though.  

___________________


Also back in 2009, I took the regular test to compare.  The Myers-Briggs personality test agreed with the Typealyzer:

Your Type is
ESFP
My exact results:

Extraverted	Sensing	Feeling	Perceiving
Strength of the preferences %
11	12	62	22

Qualitative analysis of your type formula
You are:

• slightly expressed extravert
• slightly expressed sensing personality
• distinctively expressed feeling personality
• slightly expressed perceiving personality

After taking the test again (just to remind myself, this is March, 2014) my score is very similar:

ESFP

Extravert(44%)  Sensing(25%)  Feeling(88%)  Perceiving(67)%

• You have moderate preference of Extraversion over Introversion (44%)
• You have moderate preference of Sensing over Intuition (25%)
• You have strong preference of Feeling over Thinking (88%)
• You have distinctive preference of Perceiving over Judging (67%)

Artisan^TM Portrait of the Performer (ESFP) (More in-depth.)

Performers have the special ability, even among the Artisans, to delight those around them with their warmth, their good humor, and with their often extraordinary skills in music, comedy, and drama. Whether on the job, with friends, or with their families, Performers are exciting and full of fun, and their great social interest lies in stimulating those around them to take a break from work and worry, to lighten up and enjoy life.
Performers are plentiful, something over ten percent of the population, and this is fortunate, because they bring pleasure to so many of us. Performers are the people for whom it can truly be said "all the world's a stage." Born entertainers, they love the excitement of playing to an audience, and will quickly become the center of attention wherever they are. Performers aren't comfortable being alone, and seek the company of others whenever possible-which they usually find, for they make wonderful playmates. Performers are smooth, talkative, and witty; they always seem to know the latest jokes and stories, and are quick with wisecracks and wordplay-nothing is so serious or sacred that it can't be made fun of. Performers also like to live in the fast lane, and seem up on the latest fashions of dress, food, drink, and music. Lively and uninhibited, Performers are the life of the party, always trying to create in those around them a mood of eat, drink, and be merry.
The Performers' talent for enjoying life is healthy for the most part, though it also makes them more subject to temptations than the other types. Pleasure seems to be an end in itself for them, and variety is the spice of life. And so Performers are open to trying almost anything that promises them a good time, not always giving enough thought to the consequences.
Like the other Artisans, Performers are incurably optimistic - "Always look on the bright side," is their motto - and they will avoid worries and troubles by ignoring them as long as possible. They are also the most generous of all the types, and second only to the Composer Artisans [ISFPs] in kindness. Performers haven't a mean or stingy bone in their body-what's theirs is yours-and they seem to have little idea of saving or conserving. They give what they have to one and all without expectation of reward, just as they love freely, and without expecting anything in return. In so many ways, Performers view life as an eternal cornucopia from which flows an endless supply of pleasures.


Have you taken the Myers-Briggs or Typealyzer test for fun?  What were your results? 

The Walmart $25 and Free Del Monte Product Coupons Giveaway Winner Is...

We have a winner!  After moderating the giveaway (yes, I do that!) for the last few hours, the winner for the $25 Walmart gift card and 2 Del Monte free product coupons has been announced!  Check the original post http://weaverswobble.blogspot.com/2014/02/del-monte-fruit-burst-squeezers-and.html to see if it's you. 

Congratulations to the winner! 

Del Monte® Fruit Burst® Squeezers and Fruit Cup® Snacks Review and Giveaway

Learn more at Delmonte.com

Snack time in the Weaver house is practically all the time.  Particularly when we aren't on a regular schedule or we have a lot of extracurricular activities, we will graze a lot throughout the day.  But I don't like feeding my kids a bunch of junk.  I prefer convenient and healthy.  During the peak seasons when fresh fruits and vegetables are readily available for low prices we make sure to stock up on apples, strawberries, green beans and anything else we can get our hands on.  Sometimes I go the homemade route and make granola bars.  But when I'm not feeling $5 for a pint of fresh strawberries or like Suzy Homemaker, I check the snack food aisles for deals.  

Lately I've been struggling with energy and fresh produce is at a premium so I'm very grateful that Del Monte sent me a few samples of their product to try.  They are a healthy snack food giant!  I was able to try Del Monte Fruit Burst Squeezers and Del Monte Fruit Cup Snacks, or rather, I should say that my kids got to try it.  I sneaked in a bite here and a taste there but they were a bit stingy with their snacks!  The Fruit Burst Squeezers have even been affectionately named "fruity snacks" by my 3 (I should just call him 4- he'll be 4 next month) year old, Henry.

Some facts about the products we tried:

Fruit Burst™ Squeezers are made in the USA, contain 1.5 servings of fruit or fruit and vegetables and are an excellent source of vitamins A and C.  In addition (and my personal favorite part)- there are no artificial flavors or high fructose corn syrup! 

There are 2 varieties of Fruit Burst® Fruit + Veggie Squeezers:  
-The Peach-Mango contains pear puree concentrate, water, pumpkin juice concentrate, peach puree concentrate, pear juice concentrate, carrot juice concentrate, carrot puree, mango puree concentrate, natural flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and citric acid. 
-The Blueberry contains pear puree concentrate, water, pumpkin juice concentrate, pear juice concentrate, natural flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and citric acid.  

There are 3 varieties of Fruit Burst® Simply Fruit Squeezers:
-The Apple Cinnamon contains pear puree concentrate, water, apple puree concentrate, pear juice concentrate, natural flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), cinnamon and malic acid.
-The Mixed Berry contains pear puree concentrate, water, pear juice concentrate, natural flavors, strawberry puree, red raspberry puree concentrate, blueberry puree concentrate, fruit and vegetable extracts for color, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and malic acid.

-The Strawberry contains pear puree concentrate, water, pear juice concentrate, strawberry puree concentrate, natural flavors, carmine, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and malic acid.

Mango Fruit Cup® Snacks are a fat and cholesterol-free snack high in vitamin C.

Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup® Snacks combine mango and pineapple- two of the world's most popular fruits.  They contain no high fructose corn syrup and are a good source of vitamin C.

I don't know about all of them, but the Mixed Berry Squeezer, Peach-Mango Squeezer, Mango Fruit Cup and Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup are under 100 calories per serving. 

The Squeezers come in a convenient foil package that is easy for little hands to hold, and there wasn't even an accidental squeeze from my accident-prone kids.  They are great on the go or when you need a healthy and simple snack in a pinch.
We tried the Peach-Mango Fruit + Veggie Squeezer and the Mixed Berry Simply Fruit Squeezer.  They were about the consistency of baby food- smooth and easy to swallow.  "There are zero chunks", as my kids would say.  The Peach-Mango was a brownish-orange color and the Mixed Berry was a purplish-red.  They tasted primarily of their description, though I could detect hints of other flavors in the Peach-Mango.  My two younger boys were my main taste-testers for the Squeezers.  My 6 year old- Jonas- was able to eat about half of one Mixed Berry Squeezer (he has a low sweet tolerance).  Henry ate all of his and the rest of his brother's.  I wasn't too sure about the Peach-Mango because of the odd mix of flavors.  Mango just isn't a common flavor for young kids so I just told him that if his belly was too full for all of it that I would eat the rest.  But Henry devoured that one on a car ride, and demanded another!  Jonas wouldn't try a second one.  My 8 year daughter- Amara- didn't try any of these because her little brother ate them all.  My 12 year old- Zach- refused them all, which is typical of him.  
These are definitely going on future shopping lists because Henry couldn't have enough of them.  They will be great when we are out for hours or camping.  

We also tried both varieties of fruit cups- the Mango and the Mango Pineapple.  Except for my husband- who doesn't like mangoes, and Zach- who doesn't like anything, we all tried these.  Henry devoured both kinds.  And again, he demanded more.  I am pretty sure he is going to grow in the next few weeks because he's eating like his belly is a bottomless pit.  Jonas really liked his Mango cup.  Amara enjoyed her Mango Pineapple.  While I am not a fan of sweetened fruit (in light syrup, aka sugar), I do believe that it played a role in them liking the fruit more.  For me, I would have been happier if they had been in plain juice rather than syrup. 
I had actually never had anything mango before this so I didn't really know what to expect.  They taste and feel a lot like peaches.  The pineapple in the Mango Pineapple variety was the same quality as Del Monte's other pineapple products.  I liked both varieties a lot but would definitely search for non-sweetened products.  If I can find that, I'll be a repeat customer!  

These products, and other Del Monte products are available at your local Walmart, or you can pick up Del Monte Fruit Burst Squeezers on Walmart.com.   

I never would have thought to look up Del Monte for recipes, ideas for parties, tips in the kitchen or ways to upcycle your used cans, but they are there and they have an amazing social media presence!  
Follow Del Monte on Pinterest for fabulous Pinspiration, including plenty of mouth-watering recipes.   
Like Del Monte on  Facebook for recipes, ideas and more.  
Follow Del Monte on Twitter for even more fantastic ideas. 
 

And now drumroll please..........
The moment you've all been waiting for: the giveaway!  You can earn a few entries to win a $25 Walmart gift card, plus 2 coupons for your choice of 1 FREE Del Monte Fruit Cups Snack Pack.  Try all of the varieties when you win!  US entries, only.  Giveaway ends at midnight, March 2, 2014, EST. 

Walmart Gift Card and two coupons for FREE products!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

 Disclosure:  The Del Monte products, information, gift pack and gift card have been provided by Del Monte to help facilitate this review and giveaway.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are expressly my own.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Because I'm already down.  I seriously feel like I can't win right now.  Apologies and a warning before I begin...this is going to be nothing but wallowing in self-pity.  I warned you. 

We are finally getting back on our feet after a lengthy period of unemployment.  Or we were starting to get back on our feet.  First it was our heater, which the installer forgot to register which almost made for a VERY costly repair.  Fortunately it was only $140 that we couldn't afford and not $500 that we couldn't afford.  My vacuum needs a new belt.  Again.  That one is not a big deal- just a few bucks.  It's just a pain because the belts are getting increasingly harder to find.  Next...my basement backs up.  It's bad.  Really bad.  This isn't the first time and I'm just so scared that the cost for this venture is going to be way beyond what we can handle.  But we don't have any other options.  Jason did try to fix it with the snake, and he had no luck whatsoever.  We can't live with it like this- it's not safe or sanitary or convenient.  Right before it happened I put all of our dirty laundry down there.  Crap.  Literally.  Our dishwasher has been broken for a few weeks.  I can't even begin to explain how much time I've spent doing dishes.  I want clean dishes but it's the kids' chore so I have them do the first round, then I rewash them once all the grime is off them in clean, soapy water.  It's probably doubling my water bill too.  I hate dishes.  I hate not having a dish washer.  I could easily do two loads of dishes every day (dishwasher loads, not sink loads).  Then my dog wants to make sure we don't forget that she can be trouble too, so she has been working hard to thoroughly saturate our carpet.  Should I just be glad it isn't the wood floors right now?  Or should I just hope (with all my being) that it isn't a UTI? 

That's just the big stuff.  Then there's the not being able to focus on anything ever which leads to nothing ever getting done, my desperate need for new contacts (I really love the headaches, glasses- really, but I'd like this relationship to be over), constantly picking up after my lazy family (getting them to help is like pulling teeth, and ensuring it happens takes 3 times longer than just doing it myself).  And I have so many errands to run.  Ugh.  

Okay, I'm done.  Thanks for listening.             

Thinking Warm Thoughts

Kiwanis Lake

 It's about zero degrees here in PA and with wind chills making it feel in the negatives and my heater working as hard as it can to push out 60 degree air, I am trying to think warm thoughts.  What better way to stay warm than looking at Summer photos while drinking coffee and buried under the warmest blanket in the house?  We stayed super busy this Summer, hiking, reading, swimming and with lots of family.  When I remember to bring my camera I make sure to get a lot of photos.  I remembered it a few time!  These are also good reminders that we didn't waste our vacation sitting on our butts playing video games all day.  
Our local library, in conjunction with some other organizations, offers a fabulous program every year that combines a Summer reading program with exposure to letterboxing, physical fitness and all of the local and state parks in York County.  We had so much fun finding new places at familiar parks, hiking our usual hangouts, seeing nature and getting healthy.

Trying out the equipment at Kiwanis Lake

Success!  We found the letterbox!

We can handle this!  Hiking at Rocky Ridge.

With soaring temperatures, we made sure to bring lots of water and fruit on our hike.

Hiking in 100-degree weather- no sweat!  Or maybe just a little...

 

 

We didn't spend our entire summer sweltering in the heat.  We spent plenty of time being silly, swimming and hanging out with family.  

Looking better than mom in her shades.

 

 

 

 

 

Watch me dive!

Visiting with family.

How are you staying warm today?  I am keeping my fingers crossed that we don't lose power since our (pretty new) furnace is struggling to keep us in air-conditioning level temps. and it will get insanely cold fast.  Our van's battery couldn't keep up with the cold, essentially stranding us and we made the dumb mistake of switching from a landline to a just-as-costly internet line through the cable company so if we lose power we lose phone too!  No cell phones in this house!  I'm guessing wi-fi doesn't work if your power is out.  I'm thinking of all of you suffering through the Polar Vortex. 

We Have a Winner!

Check to see if you are the winner of the $15 Starbucks gift card from the Holidays with Starbucks #sharejoy giveaway.  If you are the winner I will email you and if I don't hear anything by Saturday, January 11, 2014 I'll choose a new winner. 

Disguising a Turkey

Jonas is in Kindergarten and one of his recent projects was to disguise a turkey.  It was a fun project with the purpose of helping his turkey hide from the farmer so that he doesn't get eaten for Thanksgiving.  Jo could make his turkey into anything.  When I Googled some ideas I found some really great ones, like spider turkey, ninja turkey, spongebob turkey and so many more.  When Jo decided upon a triceratops I got a little scared.  I thought the ninja idea would have been much easier.  After looking around for a dino-turkey (we found one that was sort of what he wanted) we got to work cutting, folding, coloring and disguising.  I only hover to ensure fingers aren't cut off by scissors and when my help is requested.  He requested it a lot.  Normally he likes to do things on his own, so I happily obliged.  We had fun disguising his turkey!   

So, here's Jo's triceraturkey, a turkey that was probably not eaten on Thanksgiving day since he's so awesomely disguised.  

Do your children have any super fun projects that you look forward to? 

Here Comes Santa Claus

Every year we are fortunate to have a Christmas Eve visit from our very own Santa Claus who, with Mrs. Claus, get to ride the local fire truck up and down the streets of our tiny borough offering waves, candy canes for the kids and puppy treats for the furry friends (Mrs. Claus' second job is heading the local doggy rescue and she is very passionate about all pooches).  Just about every year I forget that it's happening, or I forget when it's happening so we were lucky to be home when I heard the sirens running up and down nearby streets.  We all rushed to get dressed and ran outside many times for false alarms.  Amara stood as lookout and shouted to us all when the truck turned down out street. 

The kids ran around up until they were about halfway down the block, then they sat and waited anxiously for Santa and his crew to arrive.  The elves know we have a 4th kid so they made sure to give us an extra candy cane for the moody one inside the house. 

We look forward to Santa's visit every year.  In the city I live, there are more holiday activities, like the tree lighting ceremony, New Years Eve celebration and more and while they are only about 1-2 miles from us, I like having them right outside my door.  What does your town do to celebrate the holidays?