HELLO
Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.
This blog post is sponsored, but all opinions are my own.
Whenever the weather is nice, you’ll find us in our backyard, soaking up the sun and creating memories as a family. Grilling often comes hand in hand with that – delicious shared moments between family or friends, celebrating the simple joys of the day.
While we have grilled up a storm this summer, we’re not ready to wind down any time soon so we are getting creative with our menu. Using the very best Ball Park buns, we’ve added a fun twist to our grilled classics. Available at Walmart, I sprinkled crumbles of Takis Fuego as a topping to our hot dogs, which gives a kick and crunch all in one bite. We all love a little spice around here (even Iris)!
The best part? How easy it is to up your hot dog or hamburger game. Adding the Takis to a plastic baggie, you can use any old kitchen utensil to smash the chips into the perfect sized bits. I typically add cheese and mayo, but top it off with a dusting of Takis takes my frank to a whole new level. Next time you’re at Walmart, I highly recommend stocking up!
This post is in partnership with 21c Kansas City. All opinions are my own.
Oh, how good it feels to be traveling again! We were lucky enough to be invited by 21c Museum Hotels to visit one of their newer properties, the 21c Kansas City. Only a short three and a half hour drive from Fayetteville, we hit the road on a Friday afternoon for a two-night getaway.
If you’ve never stayed at a 21c property, there are quite a few things that set them apart. Most notably, there’s an art museum in every hotel which makes it as much of a destination, as a place to stay. Iris, however, would say that it’s the penguins that make it special. Each hotel has a certain color penguin so her first question was, “What color is this one?!” She was thrilled when she found out the penguin was sky blue, one of her favorite colors. These penguins are known to show up at random spots during your stay – sometimes even in your room!
My personal favorite though is always the restaurant. Each one is uniquely curated to represent its location, with one of the best food and drink experiences you can find. On the night we checked in we grabbed a happy hour drink at the bar, followed by dinner at The Savoy. The name is an homage to the old hotel that occupied the building previously. We had actually stayed there years ago and, let’s just say it has improved tremendously. I love that they kept the historic charm of the building, but gave it a modern, warm feel. Iris’ favorite part of the meal is always the cotton candy served with the check. And the cotton candy always matches the penguin’s color at that particular hotel. I live for little details like that!
Now I can’t talk about our stay at the 21c Kansas City without talking about the star of the show – our room. We had a corner suite with an adjoining king room for Iris, which made for a perfectly relaxing (and oh so comfy) stay. The beds, the sheets, the Nespresso machine – oh my!
As much as we loved our room, we wanted to get out and explore so on Saturday we walked around the downtown area and found the cutest little breakfast spot just around the corner. After downing a latte and biscuit, we headed to the nearby Nelson-Atkins Museum to meet up with a few old friends who live in Kansas City. The museum currently has an outdoor artist-designed, mini golf experience. It’s a temporary exhibit, but perfect for kids and adults (hello, drink cart!). I highly recommend getting reservations if you can.
After a fun day out and about in Kansas City, we decided to have a low-key evening back at the hotel. Before turning in, we took time to explore the different art exhibits around the museum. There were some truly stunning pieces on display. After our self-guided tour was complete, we got in pajamas, ordered room service from The Savoy, and curled up to watch movies. An absolute perfect night to end a perfect weekend trip!
This post is sponsored by Nature Valley, but all opinions are my own.
As moms, we’ve learned to always have a few things on hand and I think we all know what’s at the top of that list. That’s right, snacks! As a busy family, we’re always on the go, so having stashes of last minute snacks in my purse and car are an absolute must. But in true mom fashion, that’s not where my preparedness ends. We also keep a bag in the car for all the wrappers and when I head to Walmart I just pick up the bag and drop them off. As my daughter grows, so does my desire to help her learn how to better take care of the world around us.
Sometimes that can be taught in little ways, like the choices we make and the actions we show just in our normal day-to-day. Tying in thoughtful choices with our daily lives makes these lessons a little easier to accomplish and hopefully creates some good habits along the way. Just one easy example is that we’ve started to buy Nature Valley Crunchy Bars with new in-store drop-off recyclable wrappers. Making the conscious effort to buy something that can be recycled (and then of course following through) is a lesson that I hope Iris will carry with her far into adulthood.
Not only are these already some of our go-to snacks from Walmart, but recycling the wrappers is easy. Just save your new recyclable Nature Valley Crunchy bar wrappers and other specialty plastics or film packaging at home and drop them in the bin at your local Walmart. Click here to buy: https://bit.ly/3sef2mO
Little efforts like this can make a big impact and are a great way to ingrain lifelong lessons one snack at a time.
So what exactly is Store Drop-Off Recycling? Store drop-off recycling is a retailer-sponsored program that collects plastic bags and other flexible plastic packaging in their stores. We can collect and save qualifying plastic films at home, such as certain plastic shopping bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, produce bags, and food storage bags and bring them into stores to recycle. Make sure to look for the Store Drop-Off How2Recycle label.
Here’s a link to learn more and start making a change with Nature Valley: https://bit.ly/3tdITgu
This post is sponsored by Froneri/Nestlé but all opinions are my own.
I’m not sure what it is, but I always crave ice cream in the wintertime and this year is no different! In fact, this holiday season I’m getting creative with ice cream by making my scoops a little more festive. EDY’S®/Dreyer’s has several ice cream recipes that look as fun as they are delicious, so Iris and I decided to try our hand at the EDY’S® Melting Snowman Frosted Cookies. We live in the south so our ice cream name is EDY’S®, but for those of you who live west of the Rockies, you would know this ice cream brand as Dreyer’s.
Grabbing a carton of EDY’S® Classic Vanilla Light Ice Cream from Walmart, along with a few other candy and cookie basics, we got to work creating our “melted” masterpiece. Not only is this recipe super easy, but the results made me feel like a Pinterest superstar (which, let me tell ya, is very hard to do). Iris absolutely loved that it included an assortment of sweets and, me? I loved the ice cream, and of course, making sweet holiday memories with my kiddo. On top of the recipe being easy, it was also a breeze getting everything we needed from Walmart using my Walmart+ account for free delivery directly to my doorstep.
This post is sponsored by Tennessee Tourism, but all opinions are my own.
If there’s one thing I love in this world, it’s a good road trip. I always have and I always will, but this year our travel adventures were sure different than what I expected. Like the rest of the world, we’ve been hunkered down at home trying to stay safe. Finally though, we ventured across state lines for the first time all year to visit one of my most favorite places in the world – Memphis, Tennessee.
After doing a little research, we discovered so many unique options in Memphis that we could safely explore while staying socially distanced from others, so we decided to grab our masks and go for it. Our little family hit the road from Fayetteville, Arkansas on a Saturday morning and less than five hours later we rolled across the Mississippi River before lunch time. And just so you all know, we wore our masks the entire time unless there was absolutely no one else around.
Our first stop was Mud Island in search of the Instagram famous Memphis sign. Mud Island is situated in the middle of the river, so we walked across the skybridge, which was a beautiful adventure in itself. There were plenty of spots to stop and take photos with the skyline, and of course with the Memphis sign too (found it!).
After we had our first experience under our belt, we decided to find our hotel and get settled. There are so many fun, new hotels in Memphis, I honestly had a hard time picking a place to stay. We landed on the Central Station Hotel in the South Main Arts District downtown and I’m so glad we did. It was clean, comfortable, and had tons of Memphis charm. Plus, once we got there – we were able to walk or ride the trolley everywhere on our itinerary.
Once our bags were unpacked, we realized how hungry we were (which by the way should be a crime in Memphis, considering all the delicious food there is in town). Hearing great things about Loflin Yard, we decided to walk over and give it a try. The large open-air concept is what initially won me over for safety reasons, but the food and drinks sealed the deal – we’re keeping this one on the list for our next visit for sure.
After lunch we did something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time – take Iris to the National Civil Rights Museum. Located at the former Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, the museum chronicles the American civil rights movement with compelling displays and educational components. If you’ve never been, this museum is worth the trip to Memphis.
After our self-guided tour, we wandered a block or so over to check out the new Wiseacre downtown taproom. Again, the open-air inside and large hangout area outside earned it a top spot on our itinerary because we knew we could visit safely. Not only did we feel super comfortable, but the beer was great and the place was beautiful! To add to the ambiance, we were lucky to visit when a few members of the Memphis Symphony were playing (wearing masks, of course).
It was hard to believe that we already had such a full day, but it wasn’t over yet. In fact, I might argue that it’s the best time of all – dinner time in Memphis. Since this was only a quick weekend trip, we had to make every meal count so we jumped straight to the top with dinner at Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous. This adventure required a trolley ride, which Iris was absolutely thrilled about. There’s a trolley stop located just across the street from our hotel, which was really convenient and really easy to navigate. Located in a nondescript alley downtown, The Rendezvous is world famous for their dry-rub ribs, but let me give you a pro tip: always order the cheese and sausage plate. Always.
With our bellies full, it was time to hit the hay back at the Central Station Hotel. As we arrived back on South Main to our hotel, we realized that all the businesses had Christmas lights up, which felt like a magical ending to the evening. After a fantastic night’s rest, we woke up and – you guessed it – were ready for our next Memphis Meal. The Arcade Restaurantacross the street had been staring at us ever since we arrived, so we popped over bright and early on Sunday morning, enjoying a classic southern breakfast surrounded by original retro style. It is Memphis’ oldest cafe after all, and has the charm to prove it.
Our Sunday plans included a trip to a place you might not think of when you think of vacationing with kids – Beale Street – but I would disagree. After another trip on the trolley, we arrived at “the home of the blues” where there was plenty of room to safely roam around outside (especially if you go during the day like we did). This may have been Iris’ favorite stop because we visited a candy shop and let her pick out a few treats. We also visited one of my favorite stores ever, A. Schwab, which is the only remaining original business on Beale Street. Established in 1876, it’s a two-story general store that carries a wide range of unique things. From voodoo supplies (yes, you read that right) to household items, this place has you covered (or at least very entertained just wandering around). If you are in search of some Memphis souvenirs, this is your spot!
Before we hit the road, we made one last food stop at a spot that came highly recommended from local folks, Hustle & Dough. Picking up some baked goods for the road (omg I’m so glad we did), we also had one last classic Memphis site to see, Sun Studios. I wish we had time to go through and take a tour, but I think that means we’ll just have to plan another trip back very soon.
Thank you Tennessee for the amazing times and for making us feel safe on our adventures! ‘Till next time.
