Family Fun Weekend

We finally did something different this weekend and it involved leaving the house.  Where did we go?  Does this give you a clue?

We went to the zoo!  We had been talking about going to the aquarium, since we became members, but it was supposed to be a nice weekend and the aquarium is all indoors.  So we decided to venture to the zoo instead. 

I had to pose sideways so you could see Evan...
I don't normally pose sideways for photos.

I still had golf in the morning so we didn't head out until the afternoon, but it was perfect.  The weather in the morning had been cool and cloudy so the zoo wasn't too crowded.  However, by the time we got there the sun was out and it was perfect weather.

I carried Evan in the Mai Tei the entire time and he loved it.  For some reason we are not stroller people when we go out.  I always take the stroller when we head out for a walk, but if we are going somewhere like the football game or shopping we just always carry him or put him in the baby carrier.  I'm not sure why.  But the baby carrier was the way to go here because it was easy for him to get close without having to maneuver the stroller between people.

He really loved brushing the goats.

They were so cute.  Ivan's favorite part was the farm exhibit, of course.  We ended up with a lot of pictures like this.

And this,

We saw a bunch of giraffes but since we were there so late we couldn't feed them.  They were still fun to,look at.  Ivan also really liked the penguins.  I'm not sure why but we stood and looked at them for along time.

They were eating, so it was fun to watch them scarf down fish.  At the end we had somehow missed the crocodile (Ivan's favorite animal) so we had to rush back to the chimp exhibit and fine the one lone crocodile in a tank.  We made it and on our way out we snapped a photo together (a rarity).

We had so much fun.  Ivan wants to go back next week, but at almost $18 a person to get in, I don't think we'll be going every week.

Sunday was a normal day, except I subbed for another First Tee coach so I had to work again.  Melissa and I went for a 4.5 mile run in the morning.  It felt nice because it was such a beautiful morning.  I then took at trip to the grocery store where I was able to keep our bill to close to $100.  Then I went to Costco and spent $60, so there goes that budget.  It was important that we buy 30 rolls of toilet paper, 900 baby wipes, and 32 cans of coke....

And the Ravens lost.  Boo.

But I made chicken soup and Evan has a new tooth.

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What did you do this weekend?

What's your favorite zoo animal?

 - Mine is the gorilla and chimps.  I love to watch them because they are so human like.  I also like the elephants.

I can't unlearn it

Has everyone seen this TED talk going around Facebook?



I don't usually watch videos from Facebook, especially ones that are 20 minutes long, but for some reason I decided to watch this.  And I'm glad I did.  It wasn't anything I didn't know, but I thought it was really good.  I highly recommend taking the time to watch it, especially if you have kids, and even more especially, if you have kids with food allergies.  The woman, Robin, talks about genetically modified foods and the effects it is having on people and children's allergies through her own experience with her kids.

I know some people think I go a little overboard when it comes to Evan and food/environment/health (in my real life, because I don't really talk about it that much on the blog).  We use cloth diapers and non-chemical disposable diapers, we buy almost everything organic that we can, we don't use synthetically scented anything (lotion, bath wash, hand soap, body soap, diaper wipes, candles, air freshener, etc.), I don't microwave anything in plastic, we don't buy any food in cans that are lined with BPA (which is every can except a few organic brands), and many other things.  Yeah, it's complicated and expensive (especially since we don't have a lot of money and organic stuff is pricey), but like the woman said in the video, you can't unlearn things.

That was my favorite line, because it's so true.  I know how horrible pesticides are and how much is in our normal food supply, I know that growth hormone and genetically modified foods haven't been tested for safety, I know how bad synthetic fragrances are and the effects of the hormones they give off, I know how much BPA is in canned food and how bad it is.  I've read studies at work, I've listened to Congressional briefings, I've read scientific journal articles.  I work at a place that sues EPA over the danger of certain pesticides.  I've heard my co-workers talk about it for years and years - and they are smart and logical people.  My boss used to say that it was recommended that all pregnant and nursing women should eat organic along with children under the age of five.  I hear about it every day and now that I know it, I can't go back.  I can't buy conventional strawberries and give them to my son knowing they are full of pesticides and are like poison to his brain.  Yeah, you can't see it and he won't drop dead right there, but it builds up along with all the other toxins in our environment.  And how could I willingly expose my son to that, knowing how bad it is?? 

Yes, sometimes I wish I could unlearn these facts, it would make everything cheaper and less confusing. And it gets stressful thinking about everything he's exposed to and what effect that is having on him.  And I don't go completely overboard - we eat out at restaurants and at other people's houses even if they don't serve organic and used canned food.  I can't control everything.  However, I can control what is in my house and so I choose to do that.  And maybe one day things will be different and food will just be food.  But I have a feeling it will only get worse and the stuff we put in our mouths will resemble food less and less.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now. 

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Do you buy any organic products?

What is something that you can't unlearn?

Late nights and cold mornings

This post is going to be nice and brief because I need as much sleep on this bus as possible.  Let's just say that this is what the monkey cake looked like at 9:30pm last night.

And I forgot about the white part and had to make an extra batch of frosting.  So I didn't finish until 12:30am.  Well, I guess I finished the cake before then, but by the time I cleaned up and got lunches ready and brushed my teeth it was 12:30am.  And then back up at 4:30am for work.  And to make things worse, I have class tonight until 10:20, so no early bedtime around here.  But here's the finished cake:

It's not my most amazing cake ever and it's not the cake I wanted to make, but I think it turned out ok.  Especially since I was tired and in a bit of a rush.  Ivan made me promise to not volunteer to make a cake again and I wholeheartedly agreed.  Cake making was much easier when I was single...it's not as easy when I have a kid and no free time.

For Becca's gifts (the cake is for her baby shower at work) I made (designed) her a onesie that says "50% Guatemalan + 50% American = 100% Me" except instead of Guatemalan and American it has a picture if the Guatemalan flag and the US flag.  It's not here yet (I created it in Zazzle), but I can't wait to give it to her.  I also bought her some coconut oil (best item in the world, it works as baby lotion, diaper cream, and nipple cream all in one...and does a spectacular job of all three) and Goodnight Vermont.  I love baby showers!  I would have bought more but money is really tight right now.

And the last thing I'm gonna mention is that it's that weird time of year where it's cold in the morning and warm in the afternoon.  Today it was 45* outside when I left for the bus so I grabbed a heavier jacket, but then when I leave work it's super nice out and I look ridiculous with a heavy coat.  Annoying.

Ok, that's all folks.  Time for a nap!

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What's your ideal bedtime?

What annoys you the most about the changing seasons?

  - I love the changing seasons but the above annoys me a little (jacket thing), but the worst thing about spring and fall? STINK BUGS!!  I am so tired of waging a stink war in my house.  I am completely over the stink bugs, it makes it very difficult to open windows and enjoy the nice weather when swarms of stink bugs enter my house.

Baking cakes and dancing in the rain

Ok, so I didn't actually dance in the rain.  Or even come close to it.  But it did rain, a lot, on Saturday.  That was just what came to me when I was writing the title, so I went with it.  

This weekend was jam-packed!  I know I say that every weekend, but this one was extra busy.  Maybe because I signed up to make my co-workers baby shower cake.  I don't know why I did that.  I have NO TIME to bake and decorate cakes these days.  I just haven't done a cake in years (since my other co-workers shower cake) so I wanted to do one for the shower.  Not the smartest idea though because it was a bit hard to squeeze in...and I still haven't decorated it.  I made all the frosting though.  And dyed it.  And I don't have a present for her yet.  Boo.  I will soon though.

On Satuday I feel compelled to mention that my golf girls were so well-behaved.  I was so impressed.  Both classes were hitting really well and paying attention.  It was great.  It made the class so much more fun to coach.  Ivan had a golf tournement in the morning too.  He'd been looking forward to it for months.  I think he had a good time, even though he was hoping to win and didn't.  Thursday night golf league is finally over!!  I am so relieved.  It wasn't that I minded Ivan golfing, it was that we had no one to watch Evan.  It was so hard to find someone and eventually Melissa started watching him but she watched him all day too so I felt badly asking her to do it again at night.  So, we are now done that chapter of our life, until next year.

We were going to head to the aquarium or zoo Saturday afternoon but ended up running errands instead.  We had a bday party in the evening and we needed a present and Ivan wanted to buy a new phone.  And then, while at the mall I bought new glasses and picked up my contacts.  It rained all afternoon too so not the best weather to drive into the city in.  Maybe another weekend.

Sunday was beautiful and I took Dolce and Evan for a long walk.  It was perfect.  I've been going running with my sister in the mornings on Sundays and have really missed my walks (although I love running too).  Being pregnant really helped me enjoy the simplicity and relaxation of a good walk.

Is that not the prettiest thing ever?  The mist was rising off the lake as the day was heating up.  The temperature was perfect.  Evan and I hung out on the benches taking in the beautiful site.

This is my Instagram photo - follow me at mapleandmud

It was a lot of fun.  I love walks with my baby and doggie.  We had to make sure Evan was warm so we finally found socks to put on him.  And you can't tell from this photo, but I put his outfit on backwards.  Whoops!  It had snaps and usually the snaps go down the front...but then when I got home Ivan said it was on backwards and when I looked...sure enough, the tag was in the front.

And notice his snack container hanging off the belt (that belt is really to make sure the car seat doesn't fall out when you have the adapter in, but I think it works well to attach things too), he was munching on snacks and sharing with Dolce the entire time.

The rest of Sunday was a blur of cake baking, frosting making (I accidentally flavored the frosting with almond extract instead of vanilla extract...), dinner making, lunch-for-Ivan-for-the-week making, a bit of Chemistry studying, laundry doing, brunching, grocery shopping, and a small attempt to stop time (which didn't work).  And I must mentioned that our dryer squeaks so much when we dry clothes it's almost deafening.  Something must be done before I dry any more clothes.  Oh, and on Friday the heat shield fell off our car.  At the gas station.  We drove around with an extremely loud rattling for a while until my husband just took the heat shield off.  Hopefully our car doesn't blow up.

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What was your weekend like?

What did you have for dinner last night?

Do you make cakes or buy them?

Broken bus and a new strategy

Note: I am writing a lot of my posts on my iPad on the bus to work and it is hard to make posts pretty and not make grammar mistakes.  I try my best to re-edit when I get to a real computer, but sometimes that's not for a while.  So I apologize for all the mistakes!

You know it's gonna be a bad day when your bus breaks down and you're going to be an hour late for work.  It's especially annoying because I leave the house at 6am and then the next bus doesn't show up until 7am.  I could have used that extra hour of sleep people.  Instead I'm standing out in the cold waiting for nothing.  It also makes my day feel all discombobulated.  Grr.  Time to put my positive pants on though and just shake it off.  Or look at cute pictures of Evan sharing a clover he found.

Yesterday I had a slight epiphany.  If I wait to take my morning shower until the late afternoon, I don't have to shower this morning.  That saves me so much time. I slept in for an entire half hour longer.  It was glorious.  On Wednesdays I work from home so no one notices if I don't shower.  Then I shower when hubs gets home and I head to class in the evening.  As long as I don't spill chemical substances all over me, I am still clean the next morning.  Why didn't I think of this earlier?

I am still yawning though.  Enough sleep was still not had.  Evan woke up right as I was going to head to bed and I knew I could have put him back to sleep but I decided I wanted to snuggle with him.  Now with class two nights a week and work and golf, I feel like I never see him.  I make sure to snuggle and play with him constantly when I am home, but sometimes I miss him and just want to cuddle at night.  Plus, he likes to hold my hand when he's sleeping so what is more precious than that??  Nothing.  Except maybe him trying to eat a nectarine by himself.

I had a chat with a bunch of my co-workers about raising bilingual kids and I have a feeling it's gonna be a big challenge.  They are all native speakers and were talking about how none of their children speak Spanish well and usually only speak English at home and school.  One of my co-workers has her daughter in a full immersion school but there are not many of those around.  I'd really like Evan to know Spanish, so I am debating speaking to him in Spanish rather than English.  Then at least it would be Spanish at home all the time...until he gets bigger and decides he doesn't want to speak Spanish at all.  Which I guess is common.  We'll just have to make sure we take him to Honduras so he is forced to speak Spanish. 

Ok, I don't have much more to say.  Of course since I'm not on my regular bus I'm not tired enough to go to bed.  So I guess I'll try and finish up Shucked, my book club book.

Have a fantastic Thursday!

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Anyone else out there trying to raise bilingual kids?  Anyone been successful?

Does it mess your entire day up when you get a late sort in the morning?

Any other night showerers??

Chemistry vs. Fun

Events like yesterday remind me just how precious life can be.  The Navy Yard is on the other side of DC from where I work, but a few people on my bus work down there. My first thought was of the woman who is usually behind me in the bus line. She doesn't work for the Navy but her office is right there at the Navy Yard.  Luckily she is fine, but plenty of people and there families are not.  Dangerous people in a scary, crazy world. 

Today I have my first Chemistry exam.  Super fun times.  Last night my brother-in-law had a make-up football game and hubs really wanted to go.  So did I.  But I realized that my time was probably a lot better spent studying. 

So that's what I did.  Hubs took Evan to the game and I stayed home to do chemical equations.  At least I have a pink calculator, right??

I didn't get as much studying done as I preferred because I got stuck at work and had to take the later bus home, then I had to walk the dog, then I had to feed the dog, then I had to snack, then I had to make dinner and eat. Pretty much by the time I sat down to study the boys were home.  I put Evan to bed and then started my study session.  It involved a gazillion conversion factors or dimensional analysis.  Really fun stuff I tell you. I studied until about 10:30pm and then made lunches, washed dishes and went to bed.

This morning it was cold outside. I had to actually wear a jacket and I was secretly wishing I had brought a hat (but really it was still in the fifties so a hat wasn't really necessary).  It reminded me of high school when we's have a game and I'd have to wear my field hockey uniform to school. My uniform was a skirt.  And as the school year went on, it got colder and colder so I'd be standing waiting for the bus and my legs would be hanging out of my skirt freezing.  Good memories.

Ok, this bus is freezing so I'm gonna wrap this post up and take a quick snooze.

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Did you play a sport in high school? What was it?

What's the morning weather like where you live?

Lunch boxes and rude kids

The weather this weekend was amazing!  I'm a little sad that autumn is already here because I didn't feel like I got to fully enjoy the summer, but I love the fall so I will adjust easily.  The leaves are already falling and the cooler temps are here.  Yesterday I went for a run with my sister in the morning and I had to put Evan in pants, socks, and a sweatshirt.  And toddlers in sweatshirts are adorable.

The fall also brings about football and this means I don't have to worry about what I' going to wear two days a week.  On Friday I make sure to wear my football shirt for my brother's-in-law team (he's a high school football coach and we go to his games every Friday) and on Sunday I wear a Ravens shirt (or purple shirt).

Hubs just bought me this shirt on Friday when we went to the mall.  He bought one for himself too, but obviously not the same style.  Now we have official Ravens outfits.  Last year I just wore purple (not that this shirt would have fit me anyway).

This weekend I was determined to get caught up from last weekend when my parents were here.  I had clothes that needed to be folded that had been sitting on the floor for weeks.  I finally got it all folded and hung up and I feel SO much better.  Ivan kept trying to go to sleep but I refused to budge until everything was put away.

Yup, I told you it was a lot.  For some reason in the photo it doesn't look as impressive as it did in real life though.  I'm not sure if I had any clothes left in my drawers.  I even folded the baby clothes!

I also tried to be a bit more organized when it comes to Evan's eating.  He is not gaining weight consistently so I want to make sure I'm giving him enough opportunities to eat.  So, I made a list of all the possible food items we have in the house for him to eat and then made some meals.

 I just did breakfasts, snack, and lunch because that's what he eats at my sister's, but I might add dinner because another change we are making is having Evan eat dinner earlier (like 5pm), and then have a snack before bed (around 7pm).  I left some food for Ivan to give him, since I don't get home until 6:30pm, so hopefully he eats a bit more.  I also bought a cute little lunch pail for Evan.  Isn't so cute??  Sometimes the food I put in the diaper bag and give my sister gets lost or buried under diapers and clothes and I clean out the bag at night and find string cheese or something.  So, I felt like this would make it easier for everyone.

And switching topics from kids' lunches to just kids, can I tell you about the kids I encountered on my walk on Saturday.  I was out walking the dog (Evan was sleeping and at home with Ivan) and as I passed the playground two boys (about 11) were swinging on the swings.  I was on the sidewalk, so a decent distance from them, but I hear them yelling "What the $&*#!" really loudly.  I just keep walking and ignoring them, but they were obviously trying to get my attention.  Then they start yelling "I'm gonna kill your *#$@&*% dog!".  Now I realize they are yelling at me (because no one else had a dog), but I refuse to look over and let them know that I heard them (because this is obviously what they wanted).  So then they start yelling "*%*#&^@ piece of white trash!".  I still continued on without looking over, but I sure wanted to go over there and pop them on the head.  I mean, seriously, that was a bit over the top.  I realize they were just looking for attention and felt so "tough" because they were using the "F" word out loud (I could tell by the tone of their voice that they felt really cool using that word).  It still made me mad and took all my self-control to continue ignoring them.  I had half a mind to find out where they lived and talk with their parents, but most likely their parents' could have care less.  Right?  Parent's who care don't have kids that do that, do they?  I kept thinking that my Evan had better NEVER grow up to act like that.  I was so appalled by their behavior and the things that came out of their mouths - and they were only 10 or 11!  

Ok - my eyes are slowing closing so I better snooze at bit on the bus!

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Do you pack lunches or eat out every day for lunch (if you work outside the home)?

What do you do when kids act completely inappropriately in public places - like the playground - and their parents are nowhere to be seen???

Random Thoughts on Thursday

I don't have much to say today so I though I would just throw a bunch of random thoughts at you.  And maybe I'll throw in some random photos too.  Nothing like a bit of randomness to get us through a Thursday, right.

~ I didn't fall asleep until almost midnight last night.  I got home from class around 10:45pm, made lunches, washed dishes, washed my pump, got ready for bed, and then couldn't fall asleep for a while.  After thinking so hard for three hours in lab, it's hard to shut my brain off.  

~ On Wednesday after lecture I did two hours of work before crawling into bed and then I slept in until 8am.  It worked out really well because my mind was sharp from doing a billion conversion problems and I knew it would take me a while to zonk out.  So instead I started my work day early and then went to bed. I got a decent amount of work done before bed and then slept a little late.  Win-win.

~ One of the reasons I was late last night was because I met an old,old friend after class.  Andy and I waited tables at Riccutti's and then Luna Bella back in the day.  Like way back in the day...over ten years ago.  We used to be super good friends and he even came to visit me in Atlanta when I was in grad school.  Now that we are both married with kids we never see each other.  The last time I saw him was three years ago at his surprise bday party.  However, we both have class on Wednesdays that go until 10:20 so we chatted for a short while after class.  It was fun to catch up.

~ For my husband's bday my nieces made him a bday card.  My husband actually nailed it to the wall. And not a hidden wall, nope he nailed it right next to my large Ansel Adams print above the fireplace.  Definitely front and center of our living room.  

~ I haven't put laundry away in two weeks.  Both hubs and I are grabbing clean clothes from the hamper.  Hubs keeps complaining about how wrinkled his are.  I don't seem to care.  This weekend I swear I am going to catch up.

~ The photographer who did our family shots sends us photos every once in a while from our photo shoot and I love them.  I am so happy we went with photos instead of a big party.  The photos of Evan are priceless.  I just hope the photos of me turn out and I stood up straight in them.  My posture has been atrocious this past year.

Serious cuteness!

~ I am reading a book called Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm about a woman who quits her cushy job to learn about shucking oysters on an oyster farm.  It's for our family book club and I am learning so much about oysters.  Except I hate oysters so I can't appreciate the author's love of the mollusk (Are oysters mollusks?  I'm too lazy to look it up).  

Ok, enough randomness for now.  Hope you are having a wonderful Thrsday!

And another birthday

 Yup, it's birthday central over here.  First baby's birthday and then soon after husband's birthday.  And I sure wasn't prepared for husband's bday.  I had lots of ideas as to what to get him but never had th car or time to actually buy anything.  And many ideas were a bit pricey...like a Lazy Boy chair.  I was tempted though because Sears had recliners for $100 but they were the models and about a zillion mall people had sat on them, spilled soda on them, and written in marker on them. So I decided against the used mall chairs.

So what his birthday looked like was me running out to buy his present really quickly, Cheesecake Factory to-go, shoveling food in our mouths, opening presents (that I didn't have time to wrap), and going to bed.  I think he enjoyed it though.  And he got to celebrate once with my parents and then again on his actual birthday. 

Things were so rushed I didn't even snap photos.  I promise to do better next time.  I will be much more on top of things.

On another note, here's Evan riding in his little truck.  Ivan was so excited to give him this gift and little Evan loves it!

We eventually took him on the sidewalk, but we tried it out on the deck first.

And can I tell you that I am tired of metric conversions and significant figures?  Well, I am.  And I'm just tired in general, which has been the case for a while now.  I think I'm gonna have to breakdown and buy some coffee.

Hope you're having a great Tuesday!

A Birthday Weekend!

Before I get into the birthday celebration, I want to cry about the fact that it is dark and a bit chilly at the bus stop these days.  I hate to admit it but I think fall is coming, and after that...winter.  How did summer go so fast??  I only made it to the pool once.  We only BBQed once.  Sad how fast time goes.

And talking about time flying...how is my baby one year old already???  I cannot believe that an entire year has already gone by.  To relive the moment, I read through all my birth story posts (here, here, and here) and hubs and I walked through his birth day in memories.  It is still crazy to think it was a year ago that he was born.  It seems both a lifetime ago and yesterday that it happened.  I have to say, Evan came into this world and stole our hearts.  I love every minute I spend with him.  

We didn't have a huge birthday party for him.  It was hard to resist societal pressure to not go overboard and have a huge party with invitations, decorations, gift bags, games, etc.  There are so many cute ideas and themes and so many other people go all out for their kids' birthdays that a few times I felt a bit neglectful.  However, instead of a party I wanted to spend the money on family pictures.  I wanted to have a nice memory and I thought family photos would be a great idea.  I think it was.  The photographer was amazing and she did such a fantastic job getting Evan to smile and pay attention.  I can't wait to get the pics back (don't worry, I'll post a few here).

My parents did come down to celebrate Evan's first birthday, so that was super fun and the best present ever.  They came on Thursday night, so we pretty much spent the entire weekend at my sister's house.  I took Friday off so that I could spend some time with my birthday boy.  We headed over to my sister's and hung out there all day.  We made Evan's birthday cake and played around with the kids.

How do you like my rainbow cake!!!

He's eating so fast you can't see his hand...he loves cake, just like his momma!

My friend Andrea came over with her two kids in the afternoon for cake.  After Evan was born she came over ever week for my entire maternity leave.  Her visits were a life saver.  She really helped me out and answered so many of my questions and made me feel so relaxed.  So, I really wanted her to come celebrate Evan's first birthday.  We opened some presents and hung out and then headed to my brother's in law football game.

Evan loves his new truck!

On Saturday I had The First Tee in the morning (new fall season - lots of new girls) and then we hung out at my sister's again.  Yesterday morning my sister and I had a 5k race.  

Before the race - hanging out!

It was my first 5k in years...like over ten years!  We signed up and then I happily realized that my parents were in town and could easily watch the kiddos while my sister and I ran.  Perfect!  I had been hoping to PR in the race but never really got a chance to train much.  I had only been running once a week for a month and before that I had probably run 5 times in the previous three months.  Definitely nothing to brag about.  However, I think I did pretty well.  I ran it in under 25 minutes, which was exciting for me.  So maybe not a PR, but not a snail walk either.

That was pretty much the weekend.  Today's my husbands bday and I have nothing for him.  It's sad.  I have to run out today and see what I can find.  It's hard having two birthdays in one weekend - hard on me and hard on the bank!  Plus, Ivan usually has the car these days so it's extra hard for me to get somewhere to buy something.

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Are you ready for the fall?

What did you do this weekend?

Foodie Pen Pal

I am not sure how I forgot, but I did.  I totally forgot to write my post about my foodie pen pal.  I think it's because the post was for Friday and since I don't ride the bus on Fridays, I usually don't write a blog post.  I should have written the post in advance, but I never got around to it.  So, my foodie post is late.  However, I am going to post about it anyway.

I came across Foodie Pen Pals on The Lean Green Bean last month and thought it sounded so fun.  The deal is, you get assigned a pen pal and then you send them a box of fun food items - from your town, your favorite items, fun stuff you saw at the store, handmade goodies, etc.  Then someone picks your name and you get a fun box too.  I was so excited to participate! I love pen pals and I love food!

My penpal was Terri (she doesn't have a blog, so I can't link to her), and she's a professional chef.  She sent me such a fun box.

Look at all the yummies in there!.  I got crackers, dried apricots, popcorn, almonds, brie, homemade granola, a fig bar, raspberry-chipotle jelly, and a card.

This was the popcorn.  It is no ordinary popcorn.  It is funky chunky popcorn.  And it was amazing.  I ate the entire bag without breathing,.

Here's the homemade granola.  It was very tasty.  It had flax seed in it and some other yummy stuff. She recommended eating it with milk or yogurt but mine didn't last very long. I are it straight from the bag.

This is the Brie cheese with with raspberry chipotle sauce.  She recommended putting it on the crackers, so that's what I did.

And she was right. It was tasty.

Thanks Terri for such a delicious box - I love everything!