© 2014 sarahfortune.

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.

© 2014 sarahfortune.
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Travel

TRAVEL LOVE: Tulsa, OK

This past weekend Todd and I booked a somewhat last minute trip to Tulsa, which is less than two hours away from Fayetteville. On Friday we hopped in the car after work, picked up Iris from daycare, and were on our way! Our main reason for visiting was that we’d heard fantastic things about the new Prairie Brewpub. Todd being the craft beer lover that he is, has been wanting to try it since it opened. And me? I’ll never turn down a food and drink inspired trip! We were also lucky enough to be hosted by the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau. They hooked us up with a great room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Tulsa Downtown, which is about a 30 second walk to the brewpub’s front door.

As soon as we checked into our room, we headed over to Prairie for dinner and drinks. We knew immediately that it was worth the drive. The building itself was nicely done, a mix of historic and modern charm with a very Instagram-worthy feel (the important stuff, I know). But with each appetizer, drink, and meal we fell more and more in love. Everything was SO good. Even Iris, who is terrible at eating dinner ate all of her rotisserie chicken and then half of mine. She even loved the spinach. THE SPINACH! It was so good that we went back the next night for appetizers and drinks before heading to the baseball game down the road. After we left the ballpark, we were still hungry, so we went back for a third time and got late-night burgers to go. All of it was some of the best food we’ve had in a while. And if you’re curious, this part of our trip wasn’t sponsored at all. We probably dropped close to $250 at Prairie over the course of the weekend. That said, the prices actually are very reasonable, we just wanted to try everything – and we almost did.

Enough about Prairie, back to Tulsa! We spent Saturday morning at the Oklahoma Aquarium which Iris absolutely loved. Besides a few exhibits at zoos, she’s never had an experience like that before.

For lunch we actually ate somewhere other than Prairie and, what do you know, it was also incredibly delicious! SMOKE on Cherry Street was serving brunch, which was fine by me because the breakfast burrito was amazing as were the pineapple basil mimosas (yes, plural). From there, we looked around Cherry Street for a bit before ending up back at our hotel for a much needed nap. After our afternoon snack at Prairie, we ventured to the Tulsa Drillers baseball game, with tickets courtesy of VisitTulsa.com. While at the game I got a tip from an Instagram follower to try Antoinette Baking Co. because it was Pie Night. Not knowing exactly what that even meant, I knew I didn’t want to miss it. Located right next door to our hotel, we saw the massive line and knew it had to be legit. It was.

Each night we also took advantage of the completely empty indoor pool at our hotel, which really helped make a short road trip feel like a real vacation. Overall, I was completely impressed with our time in a city that I often forget is so close by. I’m sure we’ll venture over again soon, probably hitting up Prairie at least three more times.

Life, Sponsored

Eve Mattress Review

You know what makes me really feel like a grown-up? Besides making my own dentist appointments (and actually showing up), it’s my love for a nice, new mattress. We were recently given the opportunity to receive an Eve Mattress in exchange for our honest review – and lots of cute pictures, but that’s a given. Iris was the lucky recipient of this one since earlier this year I went through the process of picking out a mattress for Todd and I at a chain mattress store, which was about as fun as it sounds. It took lots of laying down in public, all while talking to different sales guys (awwwkward). While I’m happy with our in-store purchase overall, the Eve experience was more simplified and a heck of a lot more convenient.

First of all, they only sell ONE mattress, so the only decision you need to make is what size you need. Iris sleeps on a full-size bed, so once we made that distinction it was shipped directly to our door. Shrunk down in a bright and sunny box, the condensed mattress is super heavy, but once it’s out of the box and the plastic cover is punctured it starts growing in size. It says to allow 1-2 hours for it to fully expand, but within 10 minutes it had already taken most of its shape. There was a distinct new smell to it, but that’s to be expected with a piece of furniture that has been factory sealed.

Personally, I love the look and feel of the Eve. The sunshine yellow trim and squishy, yet firm style was a major upgrade from Iris’ previous hand-me-down mattress which squeaked every time you got on or off the bed. Iris is pretty pleased with it too, however I think it’s safe to say that her favorite thing is the big box it came in. For a solid week she used it as a little playhouse. Even so, she was excited about a new bed and now I am more excited about bedtime, strategically spending a few extra minutes lingering before I turn out her light. The only downfall is that we had to worry about getting rid of our old mattress, where as with the chain store they offered a deal where they would haul off your old one. Totally worth it though for everything else being beyond convenient!

Wanna know more about the Eve Mattress? I found the FAQ section of their website is super helpful. There, you’ll see they offer a 100 day trial, free shipping, how it’s made, etc. Overall, I would certainly recommend it… the mattress AND the box.

Fashion, Photos

Backyard Memories

Every once in a while I ask Todd to take my picture with Iris. While I don’t love being in front of the camera as much as I love being behind it, I’m always happy that I took my turn. For as many photos that I take, it’s rare that I’m actually in any of them. I think that’s true for a lot of moms. Some of my most cherished childhood photos are with my parents, so I try to hop in Iris’ photographs of future memories when I can. So here we are, just the two of us, hanging in our backyard this past weekend wearing some of our favorite summer wardrobe pieces we that we keep wearing over and over.

What we’re wearing.
ME: Ace & Jig fiesta dress / jewels c/o ROCKSBOX (code SARAHFORTUNEXOXO gets you a free month) / Sunglasses via DITTO (code SARAHFORTUNE gets you a free month)

IRIS: Pink Chicken dress / Freshly Picked moccasins

Life, Toddler Blog, Words

The Daily Grind

Around here, every weekday is more or less the same… LONG. I typically wake up around 7 am, start my coffee, drink just enough to get me going, and then spend the next 10 minutes trying to convince Iris to start her day (why is it that kids are impossible to wake up on weekdays, but will pop out of bed like it’s Christmas every weekend?). Once Iris is slowly moving around, I help get her dressed and then we both stumble through the rest of our morning. Breakfast – usually just cereal or yogurt with fruit for her, and more coffee for me. Todd always takes Iris to school, and I rush off to work after haphazardly putting my own self together. I have to stop right here and say how thankful I am that, A) I live less than 10 minutes away from my office and B) my office is super casual so I don’t have to dress up each day. I’m in the office by 8 o’clock and I usually get to leave by 4:30, which means I have just enough time to make it to Jazzercise.

After a full hour of working out, off to Iris’ school I go! Usually with just minutes to spare, I pick her up, dripping with sweat, right before closing time. Should I feel bad that she’s often the last kid to get picked up? Nah. I’m just getting my money’s worth. Well, and there’s the fact that she gets really pissed if I pick her up any earlier. In the afternoon they get to look past all of the “work” and pick the fun toys to play with. Yesterday when I picked Iris up, she was shoving glow sticks into baby dolls’ mouths – and was in pure heaven doing so. Can’t take her away from that!

From school we go home, but not to rest. That’s when another round of work begins, but it’s the best kind. It’s the kind where I make dinner while my family hangs around. Todd’s usually playing a record, Iris is usually begging for a snack, our animals are generally annoying me at my feet, and wine is usually somewhere near my mouth. Finally, we get to eat! And by eat, I mean that we shove food into our faces while Iris sits there eating only her bread, complaining that everything else looks disgusting.

Straight after dinner, it’s Iris’ bath time. After bath time, it’s book time. After book time, it’s song time. After song time, it’s “one plus two equals three time” (that means stay three extra minutes, please). After “one plus two equals three time,” it’s finally MY TIME. Around 9 o’clock I get to take a shower and wash all the work of the day away. From there, it’s time to climb right into a mountain of pillows in bed and watch some sort of mindless television (Real Housewives of ANYTHING). Even though it’s the only time for myself, I usually don’t last more than an hour or so before falling asleep… And then start it all over again the next morning.

Just typing all of this out makes me feel exhausted, however I’m usually excited and ready for each new morning. I realize how fortunate I am to have the family that I have, a job that I love, and to live in a city that makes everything so sweet and easy. One of the very best parts of my day is kissing Iris’ cheek as I wake her up in the morning, even knowing I have a marathon to run until it’s dark. My other favorite part is the feeling of driving to Iris’ school to pick her up in the afternoon. She’s nearly five years old and I still get excited to hang out with my tiniest best friend after work each day. The wine isn’t bad either.

These days, they are long. But more than anything, they are good. In fact, they might just be the best. They will continue to evolve and I will continue to try to capture them, like in this post, because one day I will miss these moments – sweat and all – more than anything.

Northwest Arkansas, Sponsored

Pantene Beautiful Lengths NWA

I recently had the honor of attending the 10th anniversary of the Pantene Beautiful Lengths event here in Northwest Arkansas. As part of #NWAChampionship week, the Pantene Beautiful Lengths ponytail cutting event unfolded Monday night at the Walmart AMP. This year P&G, in partnership with the LPGA Tournament, set a goal of 1,000 donations in celebration of the 10th anniversary. That’s up from 669 donations in 2015! Businesses and organizations across NW Arkansas joined together and took the pledge to give hope through hair. Research has shown that one in three women will be affected by cancer at some point in their life. The hair that is donated through the Beautiful Lengths program goes to make real hair wigs for those people battling cancer. All wigs are given to recipients free of charge through the American Cancer Society Wig Bank and many stay right here in our community.

I arrived to the event a little early to check out the transformation of the Walmart AMP in Rogers, which is normally a concert venue. With tons of balloons, a pink carpet, and pink lemonade, it was quite the celebration.

As I walked around, I ran into a few people I knew like my friend Cathy who volunteered as a stylist.

I also stopped to chat with some of the donors, like Shea Newport who was donating her hair for the third time. When I asked what inspired her to give, she told me about her friend who is a new mom to a 3-month-old-baby, but is also battling stage-four lung cancer, despite never being a smoker. It was so powerful to see all the donors in pink shirts, knowing that they were inspired in some way, each with their own story.


Shea Newport, with a supporting friend

As the event got underway, Mindy Sherwood, VP, P&G Walmart Team, first spoke about the impact of the program. As of 2015, the campaign has received more than 800,000 donations, which has provided 54,000 real-hair wigs to women battling cancer (it takes between 8-15 ponytails to create one wig). Mindy announced that this year they not only met their goal of 1,000 donations, but surpassed it with over 1,300 hair donors! Joined by Michelle Gloeckler, Executive VP at Walmart, and Morgan Pressel and Natalie Gulbis of the LPGA on stage, the group helped lead the “kindest cut” live on stage.

While hundreds of people donated their hair ahead of the event, over 300 brave souls signed up to have their hair cut on stage. On a count of three, ponytails went flying. There were cheers, applause, and maybe even a Hog call. While I’m not eligible to be a donor (you must have at least 8 inches of untreated hair), it was really something special to watch women, men, and even kids literally give a piece of themselves to help others.

Want to learn a little more about the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign in Northwest Arkansas? Below is a short video that tells about the history of the program and if you’d like to get involved, visit www.beautifullengthsnwa.com to sign up.

P&G_PanteneBL_FINAL_2016-06-22

This is a sponsored post.