We Got to Glow at the Cleveland Botanical Garden

by AngelaMoore on December 20, 2012

I don’t deny it. I love living near Cleveland.

No, I haven’t lost my mind. And quit knocking Cleveland. It’s a great city. With great stuff happening in it.

Like Glow. When I was invited to come out to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and check out Glow, I eagerly accepted. I’m always looking for things to do around the holidays and since December’s focus is “25 Days of Holiday Traditions” the invite was perfectly timed.

I admit, I was a little wary of taking my kids (ages 9, 7 and 1) to a place like the Botanical Garden. I mean, how kid friendly can it be? But I was pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoyed the trip. They really enjoyed the lobby decorations and how festive it all looked.

And all through the garden there were various Christmas trees, each with a different theme.

And the competition of Gingerbread Houses… wow!

Another really cute addition was the Garden Express train ride that was available for families and kids of all ages.

My kids appreciated the “Wishing Tree” where you could write a wish on a paper Christmas tree and hang it with everyone else’s wishes.

I would say that there weren’t a lot of free hands-on activities for kids unfortunately, but mine are pretty patient and are the type who can just wander around and appreciate beautiful scenery.

Speaking of hands-on, though, we did get a kick out of touching the giant bug (the name escapes me at the moment) and even yours truly got in on the act.

Interested in heading to Glow? It’s still happening:

November 23  – December 31
Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays · 10am – 5pm
Evening Hours Wednesdays & Fridays* · 10am – 9pm
Sundays · Noon – 5pm
Christmas Eve & New Year’s Eve · 10am – 3pm

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Moving Into November

by AngelaMoore on November 3, 2012

I declare the month of organization a success. Not because I am so amazingly organized now. Come on, I have three kids and I’m a single mom… do you REALLY think things are going to stay organized around here? I didn’t think so.

No, it’s a success because my brain is feeling more organized. The menu planner was a huge help (and it’s already been replicated for November). I have also started a few personal projects because I’m feeling more at ease in general and can plan better. So, huzzah! A success!

On to November! This month’s theme is Writing. Yes, it’s NaNoWriMo time! For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is for “National Novel Writing Month”. This is a completely insane (and therefore wonderfully mind blowing) concept of writing a novel in 30 days. That’s right. 50,000 words, 30 days. You do the math.

I have signed up for this every year since 2006 with the exception of 2011. Know how many times I’ve actually finished? Once. In 2010. And wow was it amazing. So I’m signed up again this year and it’s time to write! I spent some of my time from the recent Cleveland blackout plotting out what I wanted to write so I feel slightly ahead of the game. Which is good because that hardly ever happens anymore.

And so I write. And I’ve found that writing leads to… well… more writing. For months I couldn’t put pen to paper other than taking notes for work. But now, I feel the creative juices flowing again so it’s time to write.

And write I will.

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A Beautifully Anxious Mind

October 17, 2012

Yesterday was one of those days. No matter what I tried to do, the mind was reeling. Focusing on anything of merit was damn near impossible. The brain just wouldn’t turn off and settle in. It took several reads of an email to comprehend the request and hours to get things done that would normally [...]

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The Organization Continues

October 10, 2012

Ten days in and I’m already breathing a little bit easier. Dinner has not been a hassle thanks to the menu being complete and I’ve only missed one appointment (which was totally not my fault) so I’m pretty happy about it all. The organized desk is making work (and day to day life) easier and [...]

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Cleaning the Kitchen… One Corner at a Time

October 3, 2012

Today’s focus was the kitchen. There were two spots that were starting to wear on me: the island and the fridge. Both had gotten out of control. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in a short period of time. I spent about half an hour on each spot and here are the results: And God [...]

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Day Two: Tackle the Desk

October 2, 2012

Well, I got a full month’s menu done yesterday so I figured today it would make sense to organize the place where I spend most of my waking hours: my desk. Here’s the before. Uh, yeah… I’m pleased to say that after about an hour of focused effort, I am 1/2 box closer to my [...]

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Day One: Let the Organization Begin!

October 1, 2012

And the project begins! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be getting things under control around the house. The clutter and the chaos is just way too much at this point. So… day one. On tap for today is menu planning. So, early this morning I sat down with a stack of [...]

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The Organizational Game Plan

September 30, 2012

I have my list of organizational projects ready. Just one more day until the big kick off! I can tell you’re as excited as I am about all of this. To give you a sense of what I’m looking at doing in the next 31 days, here are ten things on my list: Meal Plan [...]

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Why Organization in October?

September 29, 2012

If you haven’t noticed, I have a tendency to like things neat and organized. I am not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination but disorganization just tends to drive me a little crazy. Ok, maybe really crazy. I can’t help it. It’s the way I’m built. The funny thing is, I can [...]

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An Everyday Proposition

September 28, 2012

Just a few more days until the {re}discovery Project kicks off and I’m really looking forward to it. I also told you that I’m not planning on buying any books until I make it through at least a good portion of the stacks that I have around my house. In addition to the three bookcases [...]

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