Politics, Stories
Sarah Holland
Campaign Update: March

"How's the campaign going?"

It's the question I get most often. It's also the question I'm never quite sure how to answer.

Good? ... Great! ... Your guess is as good as mine. ... We'll see May 17th!

The truth - I suppose - all depends on what you're measuring. 

Campaign Update: March
Celebrations
Sarah Holland
Felix's Winter ONE-derland

This weekend we hosted a Winter ONE-derland party in honor of Felix's first birthday. Considering this child was born during a snow, it seemed like an appropriate theme. Well, the weather had other plans and it was 70 and sunny! I could have hosted the dang party outside! 

Felix's Winter ONE-derland
Stories
Sarah Holland
Ruby

For my 30th birthday, I created a list of 30 things I wanted to do. One was to write a historical fiction short story. This is the story and as Ruby keeps calling to me here lately. I thought I'd share it here. 

Ruby
Food
Sarah Holland
Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals

One of Nicholas's New Year's resolutions was to try freezer meals. He'd prepped meals for the week on and off through 2015 and wanted to see how it would work to prepare an entire month's worth. Then, we could just pull a meal from the deep freeze, throw it in the crockpot, and on a busy day dinner would be waiting for us.

Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals
What I Learned
Sarah Holland
5 things I learned in January

Dear 2016, Slow. Up. I just picked my word for the year and finished off my New Year's Eve champagne like five minutes ago and now it's two days until February!

Whew.

5 things I learned in January

Spicy Chocolate Bourbon Pops

These popsicles were inspired by Kentucky bourbon and Texas heat. I created the recipe last summer for A Southern Fairytale blog but thought they deserved a repost as the temperature starts to rise! 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups half and half
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Instructions

  1. Place chocolate, orange zest, cayenne pepper, bourbon, and dark brown sugar in glass bowl.
  2. Bring half and half to a simmer over medium heat.
  3. Pour the heated half and half over ingredients. Whisk until chocolate has melted and everything is well combined.
  4. Pour the mixture into popsicle molds.
  5. Freeze until firm, usually several hours or overnight.
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Hobby Lobby: Contraception and Corporations

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Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that requiring closely held corporations, in this case Hobby Lobby and Mennonite cabinet makers Conestoga Wood, to provide health insurance coverage for methods of contraception that violates the companies owners’ sincerely held religious beliefs was not permitted under the Religion Freedom Restoration Act.

First, based on my own personal history, I have a passion for the specific methods of contraception being discussed in this case and the persistent myths surrounding them. After graduating from college, I spent a year running an emergency contraception (EC) hotline. At the time, EC was available only by prescription.  When a woman would call, I would collect her information, ask her several medical questions, and have a prescription called in. I dealt exclusively with the hormonal EC levonorgestrel.

I like to tell people I prevented more abortions in that year than most people do in their entire life.

A Music Themed Birthday Party

Invitations

Nothing will make your little guests more excited for your Make Me Music party than an actual musical instrument. I love the idea of handing out little maracas - just print the party info on a little card tied to the handle and you’re ready to go! Oriental Trading will even let you personalize the handle.  

Party Decor

This whimsical paint chip garland designed by little bit funky will bring a pop of color to your party. It also reminds me of the bopping flowers at the bottom of Make Me Music. However, you could also use this punch to make a colorful music note garland instead. Also, this brilliant upcycle of brightly colored paper plates from Parents Magazine could liven up any party table or table backdrop. 

On the Menu

Pop Rocks of course! How can you pass up food that makes music in your mouth!?! I also love the adorable (and EASY!) drum stick pretzel sticks that crazy for design served at her son’s birthday party. Now, no birthday party menu is complete without cake - the drum cake featured on Kara’s Party Ideas looks good enough to play and eat!

Activities and Favors

Make music come alive at your party by having a teacher from the local music school come lead the kids in a song. Martha Stewart also has several tutorials on how to let kids make their own instruments as a fun activity. 

A favor bag filled with musical instrument scribblers in an array of colors would be a fun way to send your tiny guests off with smile on their face (as well as the parents since this toy is silent!). A CD filled with your favorite children’s music (check out some of FeeFiFoFun's new offerings!) or a card with a gift code for Make Me Music would also be a fantastic favor.  

Special Treat for Mom

And because I always like to wear a little nod to all my parties on the big day, I had to include this beautiful treble clef ring from laladesignstudio. 

This post originally appeared on Salt & Nectar.

Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch

Every review I’ve read of The Goldfinch has compared Donna Tartt’s sweeping 700 page novel to Dickens – the classic author paid by the word.

I won’t be any different.

If you don’t like Dickens, this book is not for you. If you enjoy fast-paced plots that distract you from daily life, this book is not for you. If you like uplifting stories awash with positivity, I repeat – this book is NOT for you.

However.

My Most Popular Personal Posts of the Year

I had a plan to post my favorite or most popular post of the year but I was having trouble choosing just one. THEN, I realized it's my blog and I don't have to! So, here are several of my most popular person posts of the year. 

It was an intense year. I went through one of the toughest experiences of my life, an experience I wouldn't have survived without being able to share how I was feeling with all of you. These weren't easy posts to write but they were the most important. 

Click any photo to be taken to the post.

My Most Popular Parenting Posts of the Year

I had a plan to post my favorite or most popular post of the year but I was having trouble choosing just one. THEN, I realized it's my blog and I don't have to! So, here are several of my most popular parenting posts of the year. 

Parenting is a never-ending source of fascination, frustration, and inspiration for me. We all hold strong opinions on parenting because there is so much at stake! This is one of my favorite topics to write about and, if the numbers are any indication, your favorite topic to read about as well!

Click any photo to be taken to the post.

My Flashback Friday Posts

I had a plan to post my favorite or most popular post of the year but I was having trouble choosing just one. THEN, I realized it's my blog and I don't have to! So, here are posts from a series called Flashback Friday. 

I had this great idea to go through my childhood memorabilia and tell the stories of my childhood. I had fun with these posts but realized nostalgia isn't exactly motivating. That is unless you can use your nostalgic 7th Grade Life List to have new adventures. Look for MORE of those in the coming months!

Click any photo to be taken to the post.

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