New Album "To Be Loved" from Michael Buble (Review)

Disclosure: I participated in this campaign for One2One Network and received a free copy of the album to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for certain incentives. However, all opinions stated are my own.

 

When One2One Network offered me the opportunity to review "To Be Loved" by Michael Bublé I didn't even have to think about it.  I immediately replied "yes!"  I love Michael and have a lot of his music on my iPod.  I was really excited to hear he was releasing a new album with 4 new songs and an additional 10 classics.  I've now had the chance to listen to the entire album several times and I really like it!

This album has classics we all know and love like "You Make Me Feel So Young" and "You've Got A Friend In Me."  Another classic, "Something Stupid" done by Nancy and Frank Sinatra is on this album and Michael sings it with Reese Witherspoon.  I adore her and thought she was fabulous as June Carter in Walk the Line.  She sounds great singing this song too.

For original music on this album I think my favorite is "It's a Beautiful Day".  I think the reason I love it is b/c it sounds so upbeat and cheery but if you listen to the words you realize it is about a breakup!  The message is basically that life can be good after a breakup.  Love it!

Listening to Michael Bublé sing just makes me happy.  It really doesn't matter what he sings about.  His sound is great and this album does not disappoint.  

I suggest you make your way to iTunes to download it right now!

To Be Loved

Release Date: April 23, 2013

1. You Make Me Feel So Young
2. It's A Beautiful Day
3. To Love Somebody
4. Who's Lovin You
5. Something Stupid featuring Reese Witherspoon
6. Come Dance With Me
7. Close Your Eyes
8. After All featuring Bryan Adams
9. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You with Naturally 7
10. To Be Loved
11. You've Got A Friend In Me
12. Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You) featuring The Puppini Sisters
13. I Got It Easy
14. Young At Heart

  

Ultimate Bootcamp Is No Joke

This weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a free Ultimate Bootcamp class for bloggers on the Boston Common.  It was organized by Blog and Tweet Boston.  Anyone who knows we well knows I don't really like working out.  I don't like to run.  Oh and I don't like the gym either.

So why the heck did I sign up for this class?  I figured it would give me something to blog about. . . just kidding.  I wanted to see if I could do it.  I wanted to see if I would like it.

For those of you who are not familiar with "bootcamp" it is a 1 hour small group workout.  The instructor/personal trainer takes your through a series of exercises working out your entire body.  No two classes are the same.  Oh and it is no joke.  It is definitely a good workout.  Believe me.  I know since I am just now walking w/o wincing in pain.

This hill may look small and innocent but it is an evil hill.  Try running up it after doing 3 sets of squats, squat jumps, push ups, crunches, and many other exercises that I can't remember the names of.  My heartrate was up and my breathing was heavy.  This was a good workout.

Jill did a great job at giving modifications to people (um me) who needed them.  It was very helpful seeing that I am not in good shape and some of the other participants workout regularly.  Even though the participants were at varying levels of fitness the class flowed along nicely and I never felt "bad" about not being able to keep up.  I worked at my level and that was fine.

So how am I feeling now?  Well finally, 3 days later, I can walk up and down stairs w/o being in complete pain.  On Sunday every time Peyton said, "I'll race you."  I thought to myself ok but I couldn't beat you even if I wanted to right now!  Like really it was that bad.  I haven't been that sore since after day 2 of the Challenge Walk (and that was after walking 40 miles I might add).  So yeah this workout is good.  Now please realize that I am VERY out of shape as I have not worked out in quite some time (like over a year) other than walking.

Would I do it again?  YES!  I know even I'm surprised.  It was kinda fun.  I like doing workouts where there is someone telling me what to do.  I'm not good at going to the gym on my own.  I need direction and instruction (and motivation).  I think Ultimate Bootcamp would give me all that.

Could I actually commit to 4 classes a week for 4 weeks right now?  Um no.  But only b/c my schedule is crazy for the month of June w/ 2 vacations.  After that it will be way too hot.  MS and heat don't mix so I will not be able to do outdoor summer workouts.  But I do plan to keep this in mind for the fall.  (And if I forget all of you can remind me that I said this.  Haha!)

Here we are after the workout.  Proof that we all survived.  Actually some of these bloggers are in really good shape!  I was impressed!!

It was a fun experience and I'm glad I tried Ultimate Bootcamp.  If you get a chance to take a class I would definitely recommend it.  If you go to the Ultimate Bootcamp website you will see a spot on the right hand side where you can get a free class.  I think that is a great way to see if you like it before signing up for a 4 week session.

Thanks to Jen and Kerrie from Blog and Tweet Boston for organizing.  Thanks to Jill for kicking my butt! :)



Have you ever participated in bootcamp?

 

 

Peyton Sleeps Over

This weekend Peyton slept over my house.  It should never be called a "sleep" over b/c there is very little actual sleep.  But I digress.  It is always a lot of fun to spend one-on-one time with either Peyton or Ella and this weekend was no different.  Hope you are ready for a picture overload! (FYI Peyton still had her curly "dance" hair from professional picture night).

Saturday I picked Peyton up and asked her if she wanted to pick a restaurant nearby (near her town) or if she wanted to go back to Boston and walk to a place near my apartment.  She picked option 2.  Would you believe I forgot my iPhone at my apartment when we went to dinner!? Shocking I know but don't worry I made up for it the rest of the weekend.  So we went to dinner then the the Charles River to feed the ducks  and play on the playground burn off some energy and ended the night with ice cream!

Sunday Peyton was up at 6:30 AM and ready to go.  "I want to get dressed.  When can we get dressed?  When can we go do fun stuff?"  I held her off for an hour with a couple tv shows and then we were off.  We walked to breakfast at a diner in my neighborhood, then took a quick stop at Target for sunglasses for Peyton (we got Ella a pair too) and then spent the day at the Boston Common.  A Swan Boat ride, a balloon hat, a picnic lunch, a ride on the merry-go-round, visiting the swans and more were on the agenda!

It was such a beautiful day in Boston.  We had such a nice time.  Peyton loved doing everything and wanted to do it all over and over! I kept her to one ride on the Swan Boats and one ride on the merry-go-round with a promise of coming back for a future visit.  Oh and she begged to "ride the subway" but I told her next time (it was easier to drive since I had to bring her home after).

Peyton at 5 1/2 is a lot of fun to be around.  She talks A LOT and the majority of her talking consists of asking questions.  I forgot just how exhausting that is.  Ha!

"Jodi why did you park here? Is this your parking space? Do you always park in this space? What if someone else parked in your space. . . ?"

"Why do you go in this door? Do you always go in this door or only when you get your mail? Who is that package for? Do you know him?"

"Why are you driving in this lane? Can you drive fast on the highway? Why did you move over to a different lane? Are we on the highway? Are we getting off that exit?"

"Why is the swan sitting on the nest? Are there eggs under there? Will she get up?"

"Do ducks have teeth? Do geese have teeth? Will they bite us?"

"Can we go on the merry-go-round now? Can we have lunch yet? Can we have a snack? Can we blow up the beach ball?"

That my friends is just a sampling of the questions.  She really did ask me questions all weekend long.  It is too funny to see how their brains work.

We met up at an ice cream shop for the "exchange" and Ella really liked her new sunglasses that Peyton picked out!  And since we were there we had to get some ice cream!  Warm weather weekends are the BEST!!!! 


Linking up with Leeann for Monday Morning Gossip. 

How To Make Your iPhone Battery Last Longer

I've got some information that will change your life.  Yes it is that good.  Don't you hate when you are only halfway through the day and your iPhone battery is already at 50%?  Well recently I was having problems with my iPhone battery dying before the day was even close to over and that was just not going to work for me.

So I made an appointment with my BFFs at the Genius Bar and I learned something that nobody had ever told me before.  How is this even possible?  I've had an iPhone since the beginning of iPhones and nobody ever told me this important info that would greatly prolong my iPhone battery?!  Well now that I know this little secret I'm going to share it with all of you.  It is your lucky day!!

 On your screen find your "settings" app.  Mine is the gray one - top row.  Open it.

 Now click on "notifications."

Now you want to look at the items under "In Notification Center."  All of the things listed in this section are basically open on your iPhone.  They are running in the background even when you aren't using them b/c they are set to send you notifications, alerts, etc.  By closing the majority of them (since you really don't need most of them open at all times) you will increase your battery life.

I had already closed the majority of mine but I put Words With Friends back so I could show you what to do (by the way the guy at the Genius Bar told me Words With Friends when "open" is a huge battery drain - who knew!)

Open the app you would like to close - in this case Words With Friends.

As you can see all of the "alerts" are on.  This is bad b/c it means the app is constantly searching for alerts and using battery power to do so.

You will need to go through and click "off" for everything.  You will also need to select "none" under "Alert Style."  Your screen should look like this when you are done.

Now you will notice when you go back to your "Notifications" screen that Words With Friends is not listed under "Not In Notification Center."  You will need to go through and close each app that you do not want/need alerts.

As you can see in the photo above I left 7 "open" b/c they are things that I want to get alters for - like phone, text, calendar, etc.  I did not leave my email open b/c I just check that as needed.

I've noticed such a big difference in the battery life of my iPhone since doing this.  It is great.  I suggest you take a look into your settings and see if you can make any changes.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Good Luck!!

The Logo Unveiling

Several weeks back I had the fabulous idea to create a logo for my MS walk team, The Bean Team.  The only problem. . . I know nothing about designing a logo.  So I put it out there to the twitter world.  Soon after I heard from my friend, Amanda, who just so happens to be the owner of Sweet Tea Paperie.

To be honest I hadn't even thought of Amanda.  I most definitely should have knowing that she is super talented in a variety of areas.  You may remember Amanda was the genius behind my MS fundraiser last year, "Sip, See and Shop."  You designed the most adorable invitations for the event.

So of course I took her up on her offer.  I've loved working with Amanda in the past to design iPhone cases and more recently my iPad case.  I was totally prepared to pay her or whoever I "hired" to do this project but Amanda offered to do it for free.  She is such a generous person and this should have come as no surprised to me.

To Amanda,

Thank you!  Those two words just don't seem to be enough.  I appreciate all of your ideas, creativity, patience, and work on making this logo come.  I am so pleased with the results and I can't wait to put it on things for future MS fundraisers, walks and other events. 

To my blog readers, 

Go directly to Sweet Tea Paperie and check out all of Amanda's creativity.  While you are there shop around in her store and buy something adorable for yourself.  You will not be disappointed.  Her customer service is phenomenal! :)

THE PROCESS

So for those of you wondering the process behind creating a logo I thought I would share a little more.  In the beginning I really had no idea what I wanted.  I just knew I wanted it to say "The Bean Team," to have "MS" somewhere on it, to incorporate jelly beans, and of course orange is the color for MS so that could be used too.

Amanda and I emailed back and forth a lot.  It was so helpful to brainstorm with her.  She suggested that I look on etsy, pinterest, etc at other logos to get ideas.  Well my friends that helped SO much.  I started seeing things I liked and pulled one thing from one logo, another thing from a different logo, and so on.

I got the idea to have The Bean Team's date of establishment which lead to the idea of it looking like a town sign you see when you cross into a new town.

Then the hard part. . . the dreading "tag line."  I knew I wanted a sub-heading or "tag line" to explain what The Bean Team is and I knew it needed to include MS.  But try coming up with a short explanation.  Not easy!  I asked many of my friends (both blog friends and IRL friends) and family for suggestions.  I got back several suggestions and Amanda came up with 5 logos using each of the tag lines.  I again asked for votes.

Would you believe in the end I chose a tag line that wasn't one of the original 5!?  One of the tag lines was "Until We Beat MS."  I am so sorry that I can't remember who suggested that one (tell me if you are reading).  Several votes were for that one.  I couldn't decide if I liked the word "beat" and somehow the word cure jumped in my head.  Of course I had to agonize over it for another 2 weeks before giving the final "ok" to Amanda.

I liked several of the other tag lines a lot.  But they all had the word "step" or some version of that word.  I thought that limited the logo a bit making it most useful for walks.  Since I wanted to be able to use the logo for everything I liked the idea of it being a bit more broad.

I LOVE the tag line "Until We Cure MS."  It is beautiful.  Because really, once "we" cure MS we won't need The Bean Team anymore!!! The we in quotations includes everyone.  My fellow team members both physically at events and virtually at events.  All of you!

So I know this is a long story behind my logo but years from now I want to be able to remember why I picked what I picked.  I'll laugh I'm sure at how long it took me to decide on the simplest things. . . indecisive much!?  But in the end I will smile when I look at it because I just love it.  I feel so important now that I have a logo.  Ha!

So what do you think?  Do you like it?

Have you ever designed a logo?  If not do you think you could? (If I can anyone can)!

 

Red Sox Game, Stomach Bug and Mother's Day

Well how's that for a title.  It is kind of like which one of these doesn't belong!?  I hate being sick and the stomach bug is no fun.  Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it times I've had it in the past and it didn't interfere too much w/ my weekend plans.

 So Friday morning I woke up at 4:00 AM and I was sick.  Ugh!  Then I went back to sleep and when I woke up for work I felt a little better.  So I went to work knowing it was a Friday and I had to get a document submitted to our attorney for court.  Well when I got to work I realized I was still sick.  Not fun.  I didn't see any patients (obviously) and left at noon.  I stopped at the store on my way home to pick up some "lunch."  If this doesn't say stomach bug then I don't know what does.  I took a nap and was feeling better again in the late afternoon which was good b/c I had tickets to the Red Sox (my first game of the season)!

It was a beautiful night for a game.  I drank soda which is no fun but necessary sometimes.  Luckily I was feeling ok throughout the game.  Oh and the Red Sox won so that was great.  It was a fun night out w/ friends.

Saturday started w/ another early wake up call and a reminder that I was indeed still sick.  I hate being sick and I had so much I wanted to do.  Instead I took a nap and didn't eat or drink anything!  By the late afternoon I was feeling better and ventured out (in yoga pants) to do some Mother's Day shopping - nothing like waiting until the last minute right!?  

I went to one of my favorite local shops, Jenny Boston.  I got my mom a black and white statement necklace which I though she would love since she is a big fan of black and white clothes (oh and funny thing is she was wearing a black and white outfit on Mother's Day - guess I know her well)!!

I also got her a pretty flower hanging basket for their yard.  Oh and one of my brother's had the same idea and got her one too.  Different types of flower and color plus you can never have too many!

Oh and since I was already at Jenny Boston I figured I might as well treat myself to a little something.  I love this infinity scarf - the colors are some of my favorites!

This was my reward for the following:

I went into Target to return a blue maxi dress and yellow cardigan sweater.  I bought them in case I went to a One Fund fundraiser last week.  I didn't end up going due to another commitment so therefore I didn't need the clothes.  Would you believe that I made the return and left the store (after browsing) without buying anything!?  Miracles do happen my friends.  There is a first time for everything.  I even shocked myself.

Saturday night I made muffins and put together a Mother's Day gift basket to raffle off at the Mother's Day Road Race for MAAV.  It had some great stuff in it (too bad I couldn't win it)!

Sunday morning I was up bright and early to volunteer at the MAAV info table during the race.  I wore my new shirt and we had "Boston Strong" ribbons for people to take after making a donation to the One Fund.  

This event is such a great tradition - 16 years strong!  The Melrose Running club put on this race for women only and all the money raised goes to MAAV (I'm on the Board of Directors in case you didn't know).  Over 1,000 women ran the ran despite the rain yesterday.  Luckily we were under a tent.  While we waited for the runners to come back I had a lovely chair massage with Tanja from Quiet Balance in Wakefield and I think I'll be paying her a visit in the near future (now that I've broken up w/ Massage Envy)!

The kids got their faces painted by out wonderful student volunteers and they looked so cute.  We also had our "Love is. . ." and "Love isn't. . ." project going on so people could participate.  This little girl made the best sign.  She did this all on her own and then ran over to show her mom.  PRECIOUS!!!!

In the afternoon I went to my brother, Allan's house for a Mother's Day cookout.  I ate some yummy food including strawberry shortcake for dessert (hey I had to make up for not eating for 2 days)!

 This is the only picture I took at our Mother's Day get together.  That is what happens when Peyton and Ella aren't there.  I don't take any pictures!! 

It was a great afternoon w/ beautiful weather.  We cooked out and sat outside to eat which was really nice.

That was my weekend. . . how was yours?

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.  Hope you had a day of sleeping in and relaxing! ;)

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies (Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.)

 

I love baking.  Probably because I love eating homemade baked goods.  But since I'm trying to eat clean most of the time I haven't been baking.  Then I started seeing these healthy cookies all over Pinterest (follow me here) and I've been dying to try them out myself.  I finally got a chance to make them.  Want to know what I thought?

Source: watching-what-i-eat.blogspot.com via Jodi on Pinterest

Above is the original pin from a blog called Watching What I Eat and below is my version.

  

{My comments/changes are in bold}

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed until smooth & creamy
• 1/3 cup peanut butter ~ creamy or chunky (I used creamy)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups quick oatmeal  ~ uncooked
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (peanut, walnut, or your favorite) (optional)
• 1/4 cup carob or chocolate chips (optional) (I used mini chocolate chips - about a handful)
  

A few changes I made from what you'll see on the original recipe - omitted the protein powder since I didn't have any on hand, omitted the butter extract, omitted the nuts and added chia seeds (I didn't measure I just sprinkled a bunch in until it looked right).


Preheat heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix mashed banana & peanut butter until completely combined then add in the applesauce, & the extract ~ mix again until all are completely combined.

Add in the oatmeal to the banana mixture & combine.  (Add the optional carob / chocolate chips and/or nuts at this time if you want them mixed throughout)

Let dough rest for 10 minutes. (I didn't do this step - what can I say. . . I'm inpatient)!

Drop cookie dough, by spoonfuls, onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet & flatten cookies into circles. (If you just want the carob / chocolate chips on the top of the cookies, add now) (I didn't use parchment paper - too lazy.  They really didn't stick so I didn't have any trouble).

Bake cookies approx. 20-30 minutes (some like their cookies less cooked, some cooked more - try it both ways to find which works best for your tastes) or until golden brown & done.  Remove from oven & let rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then move to cooling rack.  (If you want the traditional fork tong marks on the cookies, use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to score the tops of the cookies while they're still warm).  (I cooked mine for 20 minutes and that was plenty! I like my cookies soft)!

 

When cookies are completely cool, store in a covered container.  Enjoy!

So what did I think. . . I really like them!

They aren't sweet at all.  They kind of taste like banana bread.  I couldn't taste the peanut butter at all which was a little disappointing.  But overall I really like them and I think they are a great treat when I'm craving something.  Much healthier than regular cookies so I won't feel as good eating them!  

Have you tried these?  There are about 100 different versions of the recipes so let me know how you made yours.  I think they would be good with some dried cranberries too!

Linking up with Katie and Stephanie!