Our little Etsy shop is coming to life!

I am still amazed at how people happen upon our Etsy shop by chance and search results.
Click here to check us out!

What started as a way to make "Royalty" mugs for our former queens and princesses has become a fun way to be creative and make a buck or two.

So far, we've had pageant tumbler orders from as far away as Maine.

We've had sports tumblers, including a male gymnast (he is amazing by the way) in Indiana, and my cousins who play tennis for their high school team.

We had a large, 23 tumbler order from a big high school in our state recently. This one was our best custom order to date, with us incorporating their signature "D" into the design.

I've got a beautiful wall with my own design for our H initial and "est. in 2006".

And our ideas keep coming! I have enjoyed the unexpected orders, like the Superman beer mug for a friend's boyfriend. I've also enjoyed combing through font after font to find the perfect one to portray the idea I have in my head.

It's a labor of love, but I am enjoying this little project of ours!

*****

Running update, for those of you following along! I took Old Girl out on Saturday morning near the lake. My plan was to run 4 miles even if we needed a walking break or two. Well, she hit her wall at 2.5m and I had to get her to the lake for a drink break. Good thing our lake is spring fed! She made it home but I realized those long runs won't be good for her.

This morning we did a solid two at a decent speed and she was fine.

Finally, I ran in a small 5K a week ago, and finished with my best time in 18 months. I was thrilled to finish at 32:38. It felt like a huge victory to me!!!

Running update

The 2017 race season is in full swing here in The Mitten. I ran a 5K in Florida over Easter weekend and wow, what a difference 40 degrees and humidity makes on performance! I was pretty mad at myself afterwards.

Coming up, we've got a local 5K for a small festival, and all the while we're training for that dreaded 10K I had signed the Hubs and I up for in June. Remember how mad he was? Turns out now he's protesting by not training at all. That silence was heard, loud and clear!

However, my birthday was recently, and my boys bought me a sweatshirt I had been coveting from the local running store for quite some time. SO EXCITED!

To assist in my quest to put the right foods into my body , I bought a spiralizer and my kid and I have been getting creative with our "zoodles" (this is zuccini pasta for those of you new to the Vegetti world!). Our first night, we used a jarred cheese sauce and mixed in diced grilled chicken (H said it was AMAZING) and last night we tried a peanut sauce. This was incredible. I'll make it again and post pics next time. The sauce was also really good on Barilla protein pasta.

I definitely feel a lot better with less carb-y, starchy food and more of a protein, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats focus. I have been running with the old girl at least every other day, if not every day, 2-3 miles or so. We did the full 5K on Saturday at the lake for practice, and yesterday did 2.75 even though we decided our legs were tired.

Ok, so I decided my legs were tired, but I kept repeating to myself, "Run until your legs aren't tired anymore!". Old girl did just fine. So we'll see how the weekend's race goes.

In other news, I have to travel for work and be gone ALL NEXT WEEK. This household will be in an uproar with Mom gone! It will also make training and eating well difficult. I'll do my best to stay on track and likely spend some time on the hotel 'dread'mill. Ughh.

10K soon, 10K soon, 10K soon...

Mitten Love Mondays - vol. 3

Welcome to a Tuesday where I publish my Mitten Love Monday entry a day late.
It happens, right?

Today I'm featuring another food company I adore:

American Spoon Foods

www.spoon.com

What do I love from there? Better question, what don't I love. Short back story, I came across this store downtown Traverse City once. The door was open and the enticing smells pulled me in. They have a kitchen in-house, and were making their famous chili. This isn't just any chili. This chili features two of their best products:

Cherry Peach Salsa and Pumpkin Chipotle Grilling Sauce

Stay with me, I know this sounds weird.

They also use ground turkey in their recipe. And cocoa powder. Yes, you read that correctly. It is such a unique and delicious flavor in chili. It is one of my go-to recipes now so I always have two jars of the salsa and one jar of the chipotle sauce on hand. There are never leftovers when I make this chili!

Lately, we've also been hooked on this product:

So delicious on burgers and chicken sausage, just in time for summer grilling. You can't beat any of their preserves either, with our house favorites being Early Glow Strawberry, and Blueberry Lime.

I love that you can sample their products too, because I always end up liking something new and buying a jar of it. With locations around Michigan, you'll leave with your arms full and your belly happy.

Leave a comment if you'd like the chili recipe. It. Is. Amazing. Would I ever let you down when it comes to food? Of course not. :)

Mitten Love Mondays vol. 2

Ahh Cherry Republic. You had me at "sample". If you've never been to a Cherry Republic store, you are in luck if you're visiting the Mitten. They now have stores in great locations other than Northern MI! Don't get me wrong, I love my TC however I can't always make a three hour trek just for Cherry Jam. An hour to Frankenmuth is much easier! So yes, confession Wednesday, I have gone to the 'Muth just to go to their store before. I stocked up while there on my favorite classic Cherry Jam, but we also got some Imperial Pretzels, Cherry Mustard, and Cherries on Fire Salsa, my hubs' new favorite. Confession Wednesday again, I've never walked in and not spent at least $60. Ever. But their stuff is THAT GOOD. I promise. Best PB&J you've ever had? Good bread, and the items below. Boom!!

My son loves that there are samples at every turn, beckoning you to try something new so that the full size jar or bag can end up in your shopping basket. And it works. My son loves the Sour Cherries and you cannot go wrong with plain chocolate covered cherries (White? Dark? Milk? Imperial? I must try them all! So many choices!). What else do we love... let's see, Boomchunka cookies, cherry tea, spicy cherry BBQ sauce, white chocolate cherry peanut butter (coupled with their cherry jam, which we only buy in the large jars, it makes the most divine sandwich ever), Cherryaki sauce, umm... yeah. I might have a bit of an obsession.

The only thing I am sad to say I regret I haven't tried yet is their breakfast line. They have pancake mix and syrup that I really must get on my next visit to stock my pantry. The best part about the Republic (besides their amazing products) is that they've gotten shipping down to a science. It is an annual tradition that I ship my baby brother (who is an adult now living in Miami on his own!) a box of their treats for his birthday. The end of April can get a little balmy in South Florida, and his box always arrives perfectly. Shipping rates are reasonable when you order a large quantity of items. Plus they pack a little bit of the north country in every box - a sprig of green, a piece of birch bark, a pinecone. Ahh home.

Oh, and the company itself comes from humble roots and has blossomed (get it, cherry blossom, ha...) into this big company with multiple locations, tons of products, and who knows how many employees, but it doesn't FEEL like that at all. It feels like family when you've been enjoying their products for so long. And the amount of money they put back into the communities they're in is truly awesome. Sign up for the newsletter just to hear tales from Bob, the founder (he's a unique guy for sure), about his life with his wife and two boys. You'll be part of the Republic in no time.
Life, Liberty, Beaches & Pie!