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Super Pizzas with SUPERPRETZEL

1/31/2020

 
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 
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While we aren't hugely into football in our house, we always tune into the Super Bowl. Whether we host something at home or go watch at a friend's house, Super Bowl always has this idea of good food and snacks around it. We aren't hosting this year, but I wanted to get in on the fun and partnered with the delicious SUPERPRETZEL and made a kid-friendly snack to share with you guys! It was easy to assemble, quick to prepare, and will have little tummies (and big ones, too) very happy. 

SUPERPRETZEL's frozen pretzels are like bringing a piece of the stadium home. They are soft and chewy, and they come with that delicious pretzel salt (you know that's your favorite part of stadium pretzels, too!). They are ready in minutes, and there are so many ways you can prepare them, too! 
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What I loved about these is how easy they are to put together, and that your kids can help! Caleb liked putting the cheese and pepperoni on the pretzels, and I enjoyed that we were able to do it together. 
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Super Pizza with SUPERPRETZEL

Ingredients
  • 1 box of SUPERPRETZELS (I found them on Amazon Fresh, for the win!)
  • 1-2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 bag of mini pepperonis
  • 1 bag of shredded mozzarella
  • 1 bag of shredded parmesan
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • Marinara sauce (for dipping)


Directions
  • Preheat oven to 400°.
  • Place frozen pretzels on baking sheet and add a little bit of water. 
  • Sprinkle with garlic powder and place in preheated oven for about 3 minutes.
  • Take out and sprinkle pretzels with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses - we were very liberal with the cheese!
  • Add pepperonis to the pizza.
  • Sprinkle Italian seasoning over the pretzels.
  • Place back in oven for 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
  • Take out and serve with marinara for dipping!
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Enjoy! 

​xoxo, 

​Jenise

A Weekend in London with Kids

1/30/2020

 
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To me, London was the most difficult part of our trip. I had really been looking forward to it, because I had never been there, but jet lag had the kids acting all kinds of crazy, and I know I was off too. It was the first leg of our trip. We could easily have spent another couple of days in London, and still had stuff to do. But for this trip, I think we were able to fit in a lot!

I don't have any restaurant recommendations, really. With the kids it was basically wherever we could be seated right away and where we all fit. Anything I do recommend for food is included in the list below!
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Stay

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Park Plaza Westminster London Bridge 
We stayed here 2 nights and we loved this hotel for a few reasons. 
  1. The price was great. We booked with points.  We had to get a little bit larger of a room because of the kids but the room had a separate sitting area with a sofa bed, which was perfect for the kids to sleep. This was one of the few hotels that had rooms like this available for a reasonable amount of money. 
  2. Location! We were able to walk just steps from the hotel door and get on a route for a double decker bus. We were able to walk to The London Eye, Westminster, and a LOT of other sights. 
  3. Kid-friendly: We didn’t take advantage of this, but there were kid friendly events going on all the time. They also had an indoor pool in the fitness area and there were TONS of families taking advantage of this when we walked by one day. 
  4. Breakfast option: They have a restaurant and had good breakfast options. With kids, I always prefer to have breakfast before leaving the hotel so I know we’re fueled for a little while. 
  5. The bathroom was large and had a shower AND a tub. Mega plus. 


London Heathrow Marriott Hotel
We had an early flight to Luxembourg on a Monday morning and we didn’t want to chance missing it with traffic and all of that, so we stayed one night at the London Heathrow Marriott Hotel. This was also a great property, although we didn’t really get to experience much of it. There was a shuttle to the airport, which was helpful. The rooms were comfy and clean.

Do

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  • Double Decker Tour Bus: This is something we do every time we go to a new city, at least on the first full day we are there. Caleb LOVED being on the bus, even though it was cold. It meant minimal walking, he really enjoyed listening to the guide (the live ones were his favorite but he listened to the recorded ones, too), and we got to see everything at least at a glance. 
  • Westminster Abbey: We walked through here on our first day. It’s absolutely breathtaking. You can buy your tickets online in advance. Recommend doing this because we waited a bit in line. 
  • Harrods: Loved walking through here and especially at Christmastime, the decorations and lights were spectacular. But do NOT MISS the food hall. It’s out of this world.  
  • Buckingham Palace:  We walked by the palace at night and then we went again in the morning for the Changing of the Guard. It's an impressive place, for sure.
  • Hamley’s: A toy store the likes of FAO Schwartz in NYC. Also super crowded, at least on the first floor. We did get the kids souvenirs here, so it was a good stop! 
  • Regent Street: This was decorated beautifully for Christmas and has high end stores with beautiful windows. 
  • Carnaby Row: We walked through here at night and there is so much to see! Look up at the lights and hanging decor. There are tons of shops, bars, and restaurants here as well. 
  • Trafalgar Square: We drove by Trafalgar Square on the double decker bus, and I spotted a Christmas market and really wanted to walk through it. So we did. The square itself is beautiful, and the market was charming! 
  • Changing of the Guard: We wanted to see the Changing of the Guard. Get there early if you want a good spot. We arrived about 30 minutes before and we were only able to see what happened outside of the gates. It’s pretty impressive, but definitely be ready for crowds. 
  • Kensington Gardens: After the changing of the guard, we walked through the gardens. We walked down by The Serpentine and saw ducks and swans on the water. It was a really nice stroll, if you have the time for it. 
  • Kensington Palace: We did not do any kind of tour or anything - just walked up to the front and around it. We did walk down the street behind it, and there are a ton of embassies there. It was a beautiful street to walk down, and it was very quiet. 
  • Borough Market: We had a late lunch here one day and I loved it. There are smaller vendors and there are smaller restaurants spread around, as well as vendors selling produce. It was one of my favorite things we did in London - the market was bustling and the food we ate was DELICIOUS.
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Our time was limited, since we really had two and a half full days in London, so there were things we weren’t able to see in more detail - many of them we just drove by on the tour bus. I’m adding them below so you can try to squeeze them in if you can!


Natural History Museum
Covent Gardens Markets
Diana Memorial Gardens
Hyde Park
Tower of London
Piccadilly Circus
Churchill War Room
London Eye

​Tell me in the comments, what did I leave out? 

xoxo, 

​Jenise
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International Travel With Small Children | Part 1

1/22/2020

 
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Earlier this month, we returned from a 12 day trip to Europe. We had gone to Paris with Caleb when he was 8 months old, but Paris was our only destination for 10 days on that trip, and he was just barely mobile. This time around, our itinerary was a little more complicated, it was winter, and there were two kids to deal with as opposed to just one. We survived and we made some great memories, but it definitely was not an easy trip.

While I admire families like The Bucket List Family, the reality is that we are not them and this is not our full time gig. Traveling with small kids is a lot of work. We made some beautiful memories, but it is NOT for the faint of heart. 

Planning

We decided to take this trip because Eddie's cousin (who is Chloe's godmother) had a baby girl in September and we wanted to meet her. They live in Luxembourg. But we also figured if we were making the trip, then we were going to add a couple of stops while we were there.

We booked everything on this trip ourselves and did not use a travel agent. I checked fares for a few weeks until we found something we were comfortable with. (A tip: Use Google Flights or Skyscanner to help you find the best combinations out there. You can't book it on Google, but it will send you to the sites to book with the rates they find.)

​For hotels, we had points with several of our credit cards, so we browsed their sites and booked what was most convenient for us and what fit in with our points value. We then booked our travel arrangements from one city to the next. We flew from London to Luxembourg and we took a train from Luxembourg to Paris (it was significantly cheaper and way less time consuming than sitting in an airport). We also booked a rental car for the days were staying in Luxembourg. 

We did not book any tours or activities in advance because we weren't sure what the kids would be up for. We decided to take it day by day. 

Packing

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This was a winter trip, and we were expecting temperatures in the thirties, so we wanted to make sure we packed accordingly. However, because of the transfers and traveling to different cities, we wanted to keep our packing as minimalist as we possibly could. We didn't totally succeed, but we had very few pieces of clothing that didn't get worn on the trip. We ended up with three suitcases - one large one for Eddie & I, a medium one for Caleb and Chloe, and a small carry-on bag that we used to carry a change of clothes for each of us and prescription medications. 

Fashion and perfectly curated looks were not a priority - I mean we all still looked put together, but my outfits were probably not the most stylish. I went for function, convenience, and being able to use pieces multiple times. I stuck to a color palette - in our case black, white, and grey, and threw a few more colorful pieces in for each person. We each had two pairs of shoes, but we all could probably have left one pair behind.

​We packed plenty of light, thin layers that we could add or remove depending on the weather, and each of us had a puffer jacket. We made sure to have enough socks for layering, gloves, hats, and scarves. 

For Chloe, I packed enough diapers to last us through the day of travel and two days after. I ended up stopping in a grocery store and picking up a small pack of diapers once during the trip (they had the exact brand of diapers we use for Chloe - Pampers Pure). 

We packed all the medications we knew we would need on a regular basis, and all the regular emergency medications. Things I wish I had: the nebulizer and an extra bottle of Benadryl packed in one of the suitcases. They took our children's Benadryl at security in London Heathrow, and we couldn't get anymore while we were there. 
​ 

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

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Before this trip, Chloe has never been on a plane. I wasn't sure how she would do. All things considered, she did pretty well. We booked an 8 hour overnight flight from Miami to London (Virgin Atlantic) in the hopes that the kids would sleep. We arrived at the airport early, and we were able to get bulkhead seats and a toddler cot. Caleb slept about 2 hours at the start of the flight. Chloe didn't fall asleep until about 5 hours in. Once we were able to transfer her to the cot, it was much more pleasant. 

From London, we flew to Luxembourg, but that was a very short flight. We flew British Airways. The security line at Heathrow is pretty insane and they are very particular about liquids. We had our Benadryl taken away here and there was NO getting around it with them.

​Once we arrived in Luxembourg, we had a rental car waiting for us. We booked directly through their website (Sixt) and we rented car seats for this kids. We ended up with a BMW X3 and it was perfect for car seats, two strollers, and all our bags. Having a rental car was one of the nicest things we did on the trip. We were able to take multiple day trips, and being able to leave things in the car was nice. Plus, the kids are used to being in cars, so their behavior was usually much better in the car than in other settings. 

We took a train from Luxembourg to Paris, and that was pretty fun, too. However, France's transit workers were on strike so our first train got cancelled. We were able to rebook, thankfully, but the train was PACKED when we got on it. I would definitely recommend "splurging" for the first class train - we were able to sit at a table and had large, cushioned, comfortable chairs; and have a game plan for getting bags, kids, strollers, etc. on and off the train. 
Our final flight was from Paris to Miami. We flew Air France, which has to be one of the most family/kid-friendly airlines I've been on. As soon as they noticed that we had small children at the boarding gate, they ushered us to a separate line for families. We were able to board after the first and business class passengers, which is always helpful with small kids. As soon as we were in the air, the crew handed out kids activity kits, and for the meals and snacks, kids were always served first. Their meals were really kid friendly and appropriate, too. 

What Did We Learn? SO MUCH.

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  • Don't overpack for the flight. I packed SO MUCH stuff in my backpack for the flight, and on the way there, I never even took the bag out of the overhead compartment. 
  • Don't overpack, period. We stayed with family and washed clothes, which you could do at an AirBnB as well, but many hotels have laundry facilities. At the bare minimum you can wash clothes in the hotel room sink and hang dry them!
  • Stay in close proximity of main attractions. Our hotel in London was really well-located but the one in Paris was a little further out, which made things a little more difficult (I'll go into further detail for each city in separate posts). 
  • Take your lightest, easiest to open and close strollers. We traveled with the Zoe XL1 and the Zoe Trip. Both were excellent choices. A double would have been REALLY difficult in some of the spaces we were in. 
  • Larger chain hotels might not give you the "local" experience, but they can come with larger rooms, amenities like breakfast, and larger bathrooms with tubs. 
  • If you only need car seats for a part of your trip, rent them. Ours were very clean and worked perfectly. I can't imagine lugging around car seats on the rest of our trip. 
  • Going from one place to another with small kids and lots of bags is HARD. Staying in one place is ideal, but if you have to move around (or just really want to), make sure you are packing as light as possible to make it more manageable. (Also, luggage carts save lives.)
  • Have movies downloaded on your phone or devices. On one of our flights, my TV didn't work so Chloe's entertainment was limited. Thankfully I had a movie downloaded on my phone and she was able to watch that.
  • Realize that you can make all the plans you want and kids will throw a wrench in those plans (like booking an overnight flight and them not sleeping). 
  • If you're traveling in winter, bring along a couple of extra blankets. The kids were cold sitting in the strollers and not moving much. Having blankets helped with that. 
  • Use the app TripIt to manage all your bookings. It pulls all your reservations from your e-mail account after you link it and keeps it nice and organized. 
  • Weigh your suitcases so you aren't surprised at the airport. We used this scale. 
  • Use packing cubes for packing! It makes everything so much more organized. Also, put your packing cubes standing straight up in the suitcase - it gives you TONS more space. 
  • Outlet converters/adapters! Don't forget them! 
If you're planning an international trip with small kids, I hope this helps you! 

xoxo, 

​Jenise

How One Word Had a Big Impact

1/7/2020

 
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At the start of 2019, one of the things that I promised myself, and my word of the year, was to Simplify. I didn’t realize how much of an impact that one word would make on me last year. When I decided I would simplify, I thought I would just say “no” more. And while that did happen, I also learned to say yes to the things that really mattered. I learned to simplify more than my calendar. I stopped overthinking things, too. I stopped dyeing my hair. I simplified my workflow when it came to photography. Even through my busiest season in the last few months of 2019, I never felt overwhelmed, because I kept everything so simple.


Simplifying let me set better boundaries for myself and my family. It gave me back time I didn’t know I was missing, and it allowed me to slow down some. Because I wasn’t overcommitted all the time, I was able to do the things I wanted to do, do them well, and enjoy them. By not being stretched too thin, I wasn’t always thinking about “the next thing” on the list. Sure, that happened sometimes, but way less often than it usually does. And because I wasn’t thinking about the next thing, I was able to be truly present and enjoy what I WAS doing. 


I learned patience. I have always been a fairly patient person, but simplifying has taught me to be patient with myself. One decision I made that I feel has had a huge impact in areas I never thought was the decision to stop dyeing my hair. Letting my grays grow out has been a HUGE lesson in patience. While I was able to camouflage the growth a little bit with some highlights, there really is nothing that I could do to speed up the process. I have had to be okay with letting the process occur naturally. The notion of instant gratification has been ingrained in us so much in this digital age where everything is so readily available - and that just isn’t possible with this process. Unlearning the habit of instant gratification has helped me to be more selective in making purchases, in making decisions, and in rushing judgement. 


We simplified things in our home - we did some major organizing, we purged, and we stopped overthinking everything. SIMPLIFY. 


I had never done a word for the year, and I’m grateful I did. I’m also glad that “Simplify” was the word I chose. I think it was the perfect word to start this tradition off with, and I’m so thankful for the way it has impacted my life. And even though 2019 brought us some heartache, stress, and pain, I was able to focus on the really important things. I’m going into 2020 with a clear and resolute head, a firm idea of what I want out of the next year (even if I haven’t chosen my word just yet!), and a light heart.

xoxo, 

​Jenise
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