Leona Lane

Jenn's Health Update (vol. 2)

I think it’s high time for another one of these posts! I I like to check in on the blog every couple of months to spread some healthy inspiration, and also to keep myself in check! Last time I blogged about this was in January. Here's how I'm staying healthy these days:

1. I signed up for the Rock & Roll half marathon in June. I am so glad that my friends have convinced me to run this race, because I have been dragging my feet in the running department lately. Somehow between juggling a stressful job and a napping baby, I have continued to make excuses for myself, and have not been taking running seriously. But signing up for this race has inspired me to get back into training mode. It helps that am running with friends on Saturday mornings for all my long runs. Signing up for races and running with friends has always been the best inspiration for me. And since I love photos/Instagram, I will be keeping track of many of my runs with #jenntrainsforahalfmarathon.

2. Matt has been making me bulletproof coffee each morning (see this post) and it has inspired me to stay low carb. When you are eating so much saturated fat, you really can’t follow it up with a mega buttered croissant…know what I mean? I am by no means completely Paleo, but have been trying to cut the junk food.

3. My dear hubby has been cooking!! He has been making veggies and fish often in the evenings. Fish has the best fat, and it’s delicious. I’m lucky that he’s been cooking, because I certainly have not been.

4. My goal for this spring has been to get outside more often, just to soak in the sunshine. I’ve noticed that little Lucy has been loving it! I helps her sleep better for naps and at night too! On a nice day we go up to the roof in the mornings and evenings, and just recently we had a “picnic” in the park. I got to lay down on my back and relax, and Lucy just played away by herself. It was AWESOME. We will be doing more of this very soon. I think being outside in the sunshine is really important for my health.

5. I’ve continued to walk often with my girl in tow. I love using the ergo carrier to go on short walks with her in the evenings. This keeps her occupied and keeps me sane! It helps that there is so much greenery popping out and pink trees everywhere. The cherry blossoms have been replaced by Dogwoods and Magnolias. I just love Spring!

I have been jogging, eating whole, healthy foods, walking, and getting outside just for fun. For the first time since getting pregnant at the end of 2012, I am starting to feel like myself again!

lovely little things | April

Since we're a little more than halfway through April, I thought today I'd share a few things I've been loving this month, and a few things I'd love to have! I did a lovely little things post in February, you may have seen it here. This month I'm getting a blue/green vibe... check it out:

1- I would love to have this lovely mint camera bag from Jo Totes... Time to save up!

2- I just bought this lovely scarf from Gap, I'm loving the bright colors. It looks brighter in person..

3- Boston Ferns! I just bought my first one last weekend for a photo shoot... Can't wait to share those photos with you :)

4- I saw these lovelies on my friend Aileen's blog, and promptly bought them both off Amazon. The photos are amazing, and I think they'll greatly improve my arranging and planting skills!

5- I'm loving this adorable cake stand from the new Oh Joy! collection at Target! Next on my entertaining must have list? I think yes :)

What kinds of things are you loving this month?

Happy Easter!

As a kid, all I remember about Easter is bunnies and eggs. Kinda silly if you ask me... We never really celebrated the holiday, and I still don't, but I do think there are some cute things out there! Today in the holiday spirit I thought I'd share a few cuties I've found around the world wide web. 

How adorable are these egg boxes from Torie Jayne's Blog!? I love them! What a cool idea. 

I think these eggs with ranunculus in this little basket is very charming. And a front door basket with flowers and eggs, also pretty darn cute... You can find her shop on Etsy. 

For all you momma's out there who don't want sugar high children running around, how about this fabulous idea from 100 Layer Cake: a Natural Easter Basket!

On another note, for all you cupcake lovers: aren't these guys adorable!? Those little chick cupcakes are so sweet, and there's a free printable here for those egg cupcake baskets!

One more Etsy discovery... This little Easter banner would add a cute touch to your home or party! Of course, I'm also loving those blue mason jars!!

Have a happy Easter! 

 

Seven Months

Today Lucy turns seven months old! Time is really flying by.

At seven months Lucy is...

-Sitting up independently! This has been awesome since she has a whole new perspective on the world and can play with some of her new toys in a different way.

-Loving any toy that makes noise!

-Reaching out to be picked up! This is so heart warming, but also tough when she is supposed to stay in her crib. How can I leave her there with her arms reached out?

-Eating several "solid" foods. She sits in her bumbo seat on the kitchen table and we feed her pureed foods a couple times a day. So far she has eating banana, avocado, sweet potato, prunes, pears and peaches.

This month has been pretty delightful. Lucy is still taking three naps a day, but she is sleeping a lot less than she used to. This is awesome because it means that we can get out of the house and do stuff more often! She loves to go on walks in the sunshine. She also loves to visit friends and smile at everyone. She is very social! But she loves mom best. (This is nice.)

She just had her six month doctor visit last week. She has stopped gaining weight so rapidly, and now at 18 pounds is in the 70 percentile for her age group. Since birth she has been 95% or more, so this is a change! Her doctor says that most babies stop gaining so much once they start on solids.

Lucy's sleep remains a bit challenging, but has improved in the past month. After some gentle sleep training she now sleeps from around 8-6 most nights. Sometimes she wakes and cries for about five minutes, but not often. Her naps have really been the most challenging. She goes down well for the morning nap, but by the afternoon she really fights it! Sometimes I end up holding her for her naps because I am just too scared to let her cry it out. Maybe all moms go through this?

My girl is still not crawling! She can roll from her back to her tummy, but then she gets stuck like a beached whale. She can scoot around in a circle though by using her legs to swivel her around. Since she just started sitting a couple weeks ago, I imagine that crawling is just around the corner. We really need to think about baby proofing!

It will be pretty challenging in the coming months to take the laying down photos! Lucy stayed in one place for about 30 seconds and then she rolled all over the place. So I thought I would capture a few photos of her sitting up as well. She doesn't like to smile for photos, so I sing "Eidelwiess" from Sound of Music. That's her nighttime song, but it makes her smile any time of day. :)

Thoughts on Unplugged Inspiration

Like most twenty-somethings these days I probably have a slightly unhealthy interest in Pinterest. In college I could waste hours on Facebook and apparently I have traded that time-wasting-scrolling-activity-of-choice in for Pinterest instead. I think it's a pretty safe assumption with 50+ boards and over 2000 pins. Eek. With that tally you'd think I would be endlessly inspired... well, unfortunately, that's not exactly how it works.

Aside from my recent stint on night shift, I've actually been trying to spend less time online looking for inspiration and turning to the real world instead. I've been noticing that tangible experiences are way more inspiring and likely to jump start a project or spark an idea for me than screen time. I've been haunting my local thrift store, taking walks and getting outside more, slowly making my way through my stack of magazines. Any of those activities or a brainstorming session at a coffee shop with notebook in hand seem to work well. So does unburying my desk or trying to find things around the house to donate.

One thing I've been working on this year has been cooking more. I'm count myself really fortunate that Joe has traditionally been the cook at our house - I'm the baker! But since we are both working full time again, I've been trying to do a little more. We have a few go-to recipes that I've gotten pretty good out, so I've started branching out a little. My favorite place for new recipes these days is our Bon Appetit and Sunset magazines. There is just something about a shiny new magazine that makes me want to bring the food to life. I've found some keepers recently, so I thought I'd pass them along to you guys! 

Salmon with Snap Peas, Bacon and Mint from the last issue of Sunset. This was really good, the bacon adds some extra deliciousness! It's really nice for a spring evening, Joe said it was worth a repeat! 

And this quino salad was inspired by an article in Bon Appetit called 'Lunch al Desko'. It had a bunch of good ideas for spicing up brown bag lunches. I used quinoa, added the spicy garlic chickpeas and roasted cherry tomatos. Then I added some young greens, mozarella cheese, basil and lemony vinegrette. I'm looking forward to trying more lunch bowl variations and some of their other ideas! Take the Bon Appetit quiz to find your perfect lunch bowl!