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Last-minute Halloween prep (because it’s almost trick-or-treating time)

October 23, 2015

Last-minute Halloween prep ideas on A Girl Named PJ

You’d think I’d be prepared for Halloween next weekend since I’ve been writing about costumes, crafts, and trick-or-treat bags all month on Cool Mom Picks. But all I’ve got is a supersize bag of assorted candy for the neighborhood kids and a smaller bag of miniature peanut butter cups for my husband and me.

It’ll be another last-minute Halloween for us.

Luckily, Levi has decided that he wants to be a ghost for Halloween — excuse me, a “spooky ghost” — so we may actually get away with the simplest of costumes: a white sheet.

Asa will probably wear whatever his cousin, Max, wore last year. If it fits.

Max is exactly one year and one day older than Asa, but they weigh about the same right now. My hefty 20 month old might have to wear the bug costume that Levi sported last Halloween . . . when he was three.

I’d actually like to get the boys into their costumes this weekend because Jordan and I have a Halloween wedding in Louisville and won’t be able to take them trick-or-treating! Instead, they’ll have to go door-to-door with my parents, although I think Levi might have just as much fun staying home and passing out candy to the kids who ring our doorbell.

What I really want to do is take the boys in costume to the National Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo event, which is happening Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. It’s sponsored by Mars (so you know the candy will be good!) and there’ll be animal demonstrations, decorated trails, magicians, jugglers, a hay maze, and more.

Seriously, how much fun does that sound?

Plus, my mother-in-law will be in town, and I love having events on the calendar that we can attend as a family.

The one thing preventing us from clicking the ORDER NOW button is that the evening would cost us $150 because Boo at the Zoo is a fundraiser for the National Zoo. That just sounds like a lot for a night of trick-or-treating, especially when the zoo is normally free and my kids don’t really need all that candy.

Last-minute Halloween prep: Get your costumes, crafts, and trick-or-treat bags ready for October 31 on A Girl Named PJ

I’d love to hear about your Halloween plans. What are your kids going to be for Halloween? Will you be trick-or-treating or attending a Halloween party? A mom in my playgroup is dressing up her toddler as Donald Trump (they have the same hairstyle), which I think is hilarious and genius.

Have a great weekend!

PS – Check out my Halloween posts on Cool Mom Picks for lots of costume and craft ideas!

(photo from Halloween 2014)

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Using a weekly self-care checklist

October 20, 2015

Sleep better: Pure Encapsulations and a weekly self-care checklist on A Girl Named PJ

One of the topics I’d like to explore more regularly on A Girl Named PJ is self care — or how we attend to our physical, mental and emotion health.

Why? Because I’m terrible at it.

Yes, I suck at self care… READ MORE!

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Modern dog bowls + natural dog food

October 16, 2015

A roundup of modern dog bowls, plus Rachael Ray Nutrish: Zero Grain Dog Food on A Girl Named PJ

My husband likes to joke that our dog, Briscoe, eats better than the rest of our family. We make it a priority to feed him all-natural dry dog food containing high-quality protein plus healthy vitamins and minerals. It’s fancy stuff, for sure, so we feed it to him in a small Tupperware container. We’re don’t want to raise a pretentious dog… READ MORE!

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Out and about: 3 days in Portland

October 8, 2015

Three days in Portland: Illustrated map print

Remember when I told you about The Hello Sessions? Well, the workshop for bloggers and creative entrepreneurs is tomorrow — which means I’m spending three days in Portland starting today!

This trip is super exciting not only because I’ll be hanging out with my best blogging pals, but because I’ll be able to check off two boxes on my travel bucket list… READ MORE!

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A Girl Named PJ is hiring blog interns!

October 5, 2015

A Girl Named PJ is now hiring blog interns!

I’m excited to announce that I’m looking for blog interns to help me make A Girl Named PJ into a smarter, stylish, more robust lifestyle blog. To be honest, I’m also a little bit nervous because — OMG — what if nobody wants to work with me?

I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. And doggone it, people like me.

Ok, so here are the areas where I need help… READ MORE!

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Should you drink coffee or take a nap?

September 29, 2015

Should you drink coffee or take a nap?

If you dropped by my house at 1 PM, you’d notice something peculiar: Silence.

In the early afternoon, my home is finally, blissfully quiet. Levi’s at preschool, Asa’s been asleep for an hour, and the dog’s curled up on the sofa cushion.

After I eat my lunch, I usually grab a seat on the couch next to Briscoe and open up my laptop to work on a blog post or schedule some social media updates. My window of uninterrupted silence typically lasts only two hours, so there’s pressure to make the most of it.

However, between my post-lunch food coma, my chronic motherhood-induced exhaustion, and the cozy quietness of the afternoon, all I always want to do is snuggle up under a throw blanket for a nap. Every day I have to decide: Do I drink coffee or take a nap?

Since I don’t have the luxury of an eight-hour work day, I have to take advantage of any pockets of quiet time I can find. But as a sleep-deprived mother of two, I’m desperate to catch up on my zzz’s. A well-rested mom is a less cranky mom.

What would you do? Nap or pour yourself another cup of coffee?

(Yes, I realize this a very specific problem for work-at-home or stay-at-home moms. Unless you work in an office that encourages you to nap under your desk, many of you have no choice but to chug coffee when your cortisol levels start to drop.)

Science says nap. According to research, napping can improve perceptual learning, procedural motor skill, and verbal memory more than 200mg of caffeine can — as long as you’re asleep for 60 to 90 minutes. That’s a long time when you’re being haunted by a never-ending to-do list.

A power nap lasting 10 to 30 minutes is your next best bet, but it has to be timed just right. If you sleep past 30 minutes but wake up before a full hour, you risk sleep inertia, or grogginess, that can last several hours. And if you nap too late in the afternoon, you can throw off your circadian rhythm, making it harder to fall asleep that night.

Meanwhile, coffee will make you feel more physically awake but “may not be an adequate substitute for the memory enhancements of daytime sleep,” according to the study. In other words, caffeine may prevent your eyelids from shutting, but your Toasted Graham Latte won’t necessarily improve your ability to crunch numbers or string sentences together.

When I’m no longer able to keep my eyes open or concentrate on my work, I try a “coffee nap” — drinking a cup of coffee and then setting my iPhone alarm for a 15-minute nap. In a series of studies, sleep researchers in England found that coffee naps were more effective than cold air, a short nap, a break with no nap, or a 10-ounce cup of strong coffee. The idea is that the caffeine, which takes about 20 minutes to kick in, will start having its physiological effects just as you are waking up.

The key is, of course, to fall asleep before the caffeine starts doing its job. And since I tend to sip rather than gulp my coffee, I often end up reaping the benefit of just the caffeine and not of the actual daytime sleep. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world, I suppose, except that blog posts hard much harder to write when I can’t remember what it is I wanted to say.

How do you stay awake when you start feeling sleepy during the day? 

PS – These are the two best times of day to drink coffee.

(via Lifehacker, image via Cultiver)

 

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5 adult coloring books to help you beat stress

September 9, 2015

Shrimp Salad Circus is offering free coloring pages for grown ups. Here is Amy of Delineate Your Dwelling coloring one.

How do you relax? Admittedly, I’m not very good at it, which sounds strange to admit because relaxing should be easy, right? At least, easier than being stressed.

But I’m never able to fully clear my mind. I’m always thinking about something on my never-ending to-do list — and usually feeling guilty about not tackling it… READ MORE!

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Free hand drawn wallpaper download

August 26, 2015

Free hand drawn wallpaper download with color blocking for iPhone from A Girl Named PJ

Blame it on perfectionism.

If you remember, I shared my first-ever wallpaper download last month: a pair of hand-drawn eyes. The design was meant to be symbolic. I actually created it as a reminder to keep your eyes on your own work and not compare your successes and failures to others… READ MORE!

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Back-to-school giveaway!

August 7, 2015

Enter our back-to-school cash giveaway!

Is anybody else getting excited for the upcoming school year? After a summer of transitions, I’m looking forward to settling into September’s back-to-school routine… READ MORE!

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