1 Year Of Remission From AML – A Year Of Hope, A Year Of Fear.

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This past weekend, Craig and I quietly celebrated a year of remission from AML. With that comes a deluge of emotions, many of them conflicting. In hindsight, I was not too terrible at dealing with the active physical fight through AML. When the choices are live or die you do whatever it is you have to do to live, right?

The physical battle was intense but relatively quick compared to those that many others face. So perhaps I had an inkling that with such an unexpected diagnosis and fast paced, intensive treatment might come a longer mental battle. And it has been. For the first time in my life, I’ve given myself the time and space to pick apart and process all of the thoughts and emotions that have come up.

As my hair grows back, as my life goes on (thank goodness)  people stop asking how I’m doing because there isn’t anything physical to see. There are no tubes hanging out of my arm. However, there are plenty of emotions hanging on my heart. [Read more…]

Carefree But Not Careless: Hum by Verizon Helps Make Summer Driving Safer

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Summer is for being carefree but not careless on the road. Thanks to Hum by Verizon for sponsoring this post. Our family is looking forward to #100SaferDays this summer using Hum – a connected car technology. #HumPartner

Summer is the season of sandy toes, extra snacks and lenient bedtimes. Most of us relax a bit in our work, our parenting and our general sense of structure. Yesterday was a testament to summer living for our family. A family sushi date on a weeknight? Ice cream after? A leisurely dip in the pool before bed? Why not!

Hello Splendid Keeping our family safer this summer with Hum by Verizon - a connected car technology #100SaferDays #Humpartner [Read more…]

DIY Harry Potter World Savings Bank

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Saving for a trip to Harry Potter World? Wondering how to save for a trip to Harry Potter World? This DIY Harry Potter bank is the perfect visual motivation to save for a visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

You’re going to need a lot of galleons to snap up all of the Honeydukes treats you’ve dreamed about. You’ll probably want some Butterbeer ice cream (yep, that’s a thing now!) and of course a Monster Book of Monsters for your Care of Magical Creatures studies. Get the tutorial for my DIY Harry Potter World savings bank below!

DIY Harry Potter savings bank - wizarding world of Harry Potter bank - how to save for Harry Potter World - from Hello Splendid [Read more…]

What’s New at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

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What’s happening at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter this summer? A lot! Thanks to our friends from Universal Studios Hollywood for hosting our family and giving us the gift of Hogwarts. #UniversalStudiosHollywood

This trip was eight months in the making but Craig and I finally took Kayla to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Okay, we actually visited most of Universal Studios Hollywood, but let’s be honest…this was about finally getting our letter to Hogwarts. If you’ve never been or it’s been a while then you should know there are some new things waiting for you.

My youngest sister joined us as the stars aligned and she found herself on a business trip to LA that week. She read the series as a teen while they were originally being released and attended those midnight parties at bookstores. To see her get to experience this with Kayla was so special! [Read more…]

Being Incredible Without Being Perfect

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Excited for Incredibles 2? We loved it! Thanks to Clorox for sponsoring this post. You can enter Disney Pixar and Clorox’s Big City sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to NYC and a shopping spree at the Disney Store here. 

This weekend Craig and I took Kayla and Blake to Hollywood to see a screening of Incredibles 2. Having loved the original 14 years ago, seeing Incredibles 2 with this little family we’ve built was one of those small but meaningful milestones. The premise of the movie also hit home for both of us. Role reversals, fighting for your family’s survival and questioning if you’re doing any of it right.

Incredibles Family from Hello Splendid - Incredibles 2 Clorox

Our friends at Clorox want you to know that parents are incredible! And we don’t have to be perfect to be incredible. Whether it’s villainous bad dreams or sneaky germs, we as parents are here to help our kids fight them off or develop the skills to do it themselves.  [Read more…]

Bring The Ice Cream Truck To Your Street

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Thanks to Mirum for sponsoring this post. Enter the Good Humor Sweet Summer Adventure sweepstakes to make your summer even sweeter! #GoodHumorSummer

When I think of summer I think of sprinklers, ice cream and roller coasters. The shock of that cold hose water, the thrill of the first dip on a roller coaster and the challenge of eating your ice cream before it melted in the sun. That’s childhood right there. To celebrate the end of another school year and the true beginning of summer, I treated Kayla and Blake to some surprise ice cream in our cul-de-sac.

Bring the ice cream truck to your street this summer with Good Humor! #GoodHumorSummer

Since the ice cream truck doesn’t make its way to these parts, I customized a vintage cooler and brought the thrill of the ice cream truck to our street. With King Cones, Chocolate Eclair and Strawberry Shortcake bars there was something for everyone.

Here is actual footage of Kayla seeing a Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bar for the first time. I have no idea what she thought it would look like, but when she saw it come out of my ice cream cooler, she was SO excited! [Read more…]