Life with Dylan

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  • Wordless Wednesday – LEGO Star Wars and the Dark Side

    Once again, Dylan has gone to the Dark Side with Darth Vader at LEGOLAND California.

  • Some days it’s all about having fun!

    After a long work week, I was ready to do anything but go home and make dinner. The weather has been beautiful and thanks to my friend Wendy (over at Wendy Will Blog) I was craving a frozen banana from Sugar and Spice on Balboa Island.

    So last Friday I was on a mission. Pick up kid. Drive to Balboa Island. Have some fun!

    Who says you can’t have a frozen banana before dinner? It’s fruit right?

    OK, so our next stop may have spoiled dinner a little, but you can’t go to the island without a stop at Balboa Candy. Seriously – you just cant!

    Could this evening get any better? Was it possible to have more fun?

    Oh yeah, it was possible. What kid doesn’t love a new pair of Vans slip-on shoes?

    What do you do for spur of the moment fun?

  • Wordless Wednesday – Blue

    What kid wouldn’t love a huge helping of Dolly’s blue raspberry cotton candy?

  • The Little Ordinary Things

    I don’t know about you, but last week was a massive whirlwind for me. It’s not that I had anything more to do than normal, but I just kept running out of time. Three days last week I had to spend my lunch break driving across town to deliver lunch to my son at his school because I ran out of time to make his lunch at home.

    Laundry, um well, it got done the week before and we are still pulling socks out of the clean laundry basket because matching socks and folding pj’s just didn’t seem to be a priority.
    Dishes? Yep, they piled up too.

    Tonight I feel like I got caught up – well, at least a little bit. That was until I happened to look up at the top of my bookcase and saw this sad, sad plant.

    Now to some of you, this just looks like any ordinary house plant. To me, this is the one plant that I haven’t killed! I have kept this little guy alive for over 7 years and that includes 3 moves.

    That’s huge for me!

    Seeing him so sad and wilting made me realize that I really have not been looking at the important things in my life. The things that I take for granted.

    The little things that make me smile each day.

    Like this plant …

    and my son’s face when I tell him he did a good job…

    or that I am proud of him.

    These little things, that seem so ordinary to us, suddenly become extraordinary when we start to neglect them. They become lifeless and it’s all we can do but take notice of how important they really are.

    So those socks in the laundry basket that need to be folded and the dishes in the sink can wait. Nothing will happen to them. They won’t wilt. They won’t look sad.

    However, my little plant and my son will.

    Moral of the story – No matter how busy you get, no matter how big of a whirlwind your life becomes, never forget about the little ordinary things that mean so much to you.

  • Meringue Bake Shop’s PushCakes are truly an original!

    I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream PushCakes!

    If you live in Orange County, California then you probably know all about the delicious PushCakes from Meringue Bake Shop. If not, don’t worry, I’m going to tell you all about them.
    Kristin Ausk is my friend, but more importantly, she is the owner of Meringue Bake Shop and the creator of the original pushcake.

    As a baker and lover of cupcakes myself, I am envious of Kristin for following her passion and making a business from her love of baking cupcakes. I was thrilled when she agreed to be interviewed for this post – and even more thrilled to have met up with her last week to get some more yummy sweet treats!

    Here is what Kristin has to say about Meringue Bake Shop and PushCakes …

    When did you first start baking?
    I was 7 or 8 years old and living in San Diego, CA. The San Diego Union Tribune had a weekly contest for kids to enter recipes and I was always trying something new. I felt at peace in the kitchen.

    When did you decide to make a business out of your love for baking?
    In 2005 I was looking for a job and started baking more because baking helped reduce my stress. When I started working, I would bring what I made to work and test out recipes on my coworkers. They didn’t complain. In fact, they started asking me to make cupcakes for their children’s birthday parties. After a few years of filling orders for friends and coworkers, I got a business license in 2008. That is how Meringue Bake Shop got started.

    Your cupcakes are amazing! Have you ever considered doing Cupcake Wars?
    Actually, they contacted me during the first season. Back then there was no prize money and I didn’t want to spend money or my time just for the title of winning something.  Cupcake Wars did contact me again, after they added the $10,000 prize, but I’m really not a fan of that show. It’s just not my thing. I’m more of a grassroots baker – you know, like the desserts you would get in a diner. Why would I want to bake under that kind of pressure?

    As the original creator of PushCakes, how do you feel about the copycats?
    At first I was really upset with the businesses who were selling what I had created – they basically saw a blog post about me and stole my idea. When I first came up with the idea, the company where I bought my containers from had no idea what I was talking about. The containers were not easily found – they come from Italy!
    Now, almost every food packaging company carries some sort of PushCake container.

    Once I started seeing others that were using a different name I was flattered. Some would even post about their attempts on blogs and link back to me. That was cool. The worst part is when people use the word PushCakes and say they had no idea I had trademarked the name. Hello, did you even try to Google it?

    What are your best selling flavors?
    Birthday Cake (vanilla cake, chocolate buttercream with sprinkles), Queen of Hearts (red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting), and Orange Crush (orange crush cake, creamsicle buttercream )

    Where can people buy your PushCakes?
    At this time, we don’t have a shop – we work out of an industrial kitchen in Fullerton. We are at the Orange Home Grown Farmers Market every other Saturday from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and we take custom orders for everything from media events to birthday parties to weddings.

    Do you have plans to open a store?
    Yes and no. We have thought about it, but it’s a huge financial obligation. I work full-time and at this point we just don’t have the funds – we would need an investor. I do have some great ideas for a store though … (Kristin did share her ideas with me, but I’m not going to write about them – because they are just that good and I don’t want anyone else copying her ideas)

    What is your favorite part about selling PushCakes?
    That’s easy – when kids come up to the table at the farmers market and smile. I love watching kids eat PushCakes.

    Ironically, when we went to visit Kristin last week my son did just that.

    PushCakes sell for $3.25 each or $39 a dozen. Kristin will even customize the sticker on the PushCakes to match your event. I could go on forever about the fabulous cakes and frosting flavors (which you can find here) but let’s get on to the good stuff.
    Kristin has offered to do a giveaway of PushCakes to one of my readers. Yes, you read that right. You could have 12 fabulous PushCakes all to yourself – or you could share them with some friends.

    To enter the PushCakes giveaway just leave a comment below telling me what your favorite PushCakes flavor is. It’s that simple.

    For additional entries: (please leave a comment for each additional entry)

    1. “Like” Life with Dylan on Facebook
    2. “Like” PushCakes on Facebook
    3. Follow PushCakes on twitter
    4. Tweet about this giveaway using @bchbby and @PushCakes

    PushCakes Giveaway fine print:
    Giveaway will end on March 18, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Winner will be selected via random.org and has 3 days to respond to my email before another winner is selected. The winner will receive one dozen PushCakes in any original flavor. Winner may select one or two original flavors. Meringue Bake Shop requires 2 weeks notice for the order and will only ship to a US address. Winner has until August 31, 2012 to place the order. 



    For more information on Meringue Bake Shop visit www.meringuebakeshop.com

  • Life with Dylan has a new look!

    You may have noticed that the blog looks a little different – well, that’s because I gave it a minor makeover. I have a new outlook on life and I wanted that to reflect on the blog. So I added some instagrams, more vibrant colors and created a new header. Doing it all one smile at a time.

    Wondering when I had the time to do all this? Well, that’s where my new outlook on life comes in.
    I have embraced the concept of saying no to other people and yes to myself. I now have time to do the things I want to do.

    Working on the new blog design and changing the Facebook pages for Life with Dylan and Beautyisms over to the new timeline format is something I have been wanting to do. I might make some more adjustments this weekend to the timeline cover photos, but for now I’m good.

  • Star Wars Fan Days at Discovery Science Center are out of this Galaxy!

    If your child loves Star Wars as much as mine does, then you need to visit Discovery Science Center for one of their Star Wars Fan Days before it’s too late. These special fan appreciation days are in a galaxy all of their own.  Although the Star Wars exhibit will be on display until April 15, 2012 there are only two more scheduled Star Wars Fan Days – March 3rd and March 24th

    Dylan and I have been to Discovery Science Center 4 times since the Star Wars exhibit opened – yes, that is basically once a month – but the exhibit is just so amazing that we keep going back for more! I have taken over 200 pictures from all our visits and selected about 30 of my favorites to share with you. This is just a  glimpse at what you will experience when visiting Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination and the Star Wars Fan Days.

          https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

    Let the kiddos wear their favorite Star Wars costume and they can get FREE general admission (ages 3-14) on Fan Days! Heck, you may not get in free, but wear your Star Wars costume too –
    it’s a family affair. The Star Wars exhibit is perfect for even the youngest Jedis in your family.

    All Fan Day activities are included in general admission. Entrance into the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit is an additional $10 ticket, which can be purchased for a scheduled time.  By allowing only a certain number of people inside the exhibit at one time assures that you can see everything and have an opportunity to experience all of the hands on centers.

    Visit www.discoverycube.org for more information on hours, tickets, and future exhibits.

  • Wordless Wednesday – A day at the beach

  • Do you listen to your body?

    Recently I’ve been feeling run down and very extremely tired. While we were on break last week I was up until 1 or sometimes 2 a.m. – I slept until at least 10 most days and a few days it was almost 11 before I could peel myself out of bed.

    My to-do lists seem to be never-ending. The things I want to do and events I want to attend seem to be put on the back burner to make room for more projects I keep saying yes to.
    When am I going to learn to say no?

    Sure, I keep saying that I am going cut back and make time for me – do what I really want to do – even if all that means is sitting on the couch to read some magazines, walking on the beach, or writing a blog post.

    Yet somehow this is not what is happening. For every one project I said no to, I seem to have said yes to three others. There is definitely something wrong with this scenario … and my body is trying to tell me something.

    My body is saying “Hello, snap out of it. Listen to me. You’re not a spring chicken anymore and you need to slow down.” So why am I not listening to my body? Why can I not say no to people?

    When your body is so tired that you can’t wait to go bed, but when you finally lay down your brain goes into overload … there is a problem.

    When insomnia sets in and you lay in bed for 2 hours watching the clock … there is a problem.

    When you don’t listen to your body … there is a problem.

    Starting today, starting right now, I am going to listen to my body. Some people may be upset or annoyed with me when I tell them that I can’t finish something I said I would do and the house might not be spotless. The laundry and dishes may pile up, but that’s OK because I am going to start saying yes to me and start listening to my body.

    How often do you listen to your body when it’s trying to tell you something?

  • My fascination with jellyfish continues …

    I’m not sure when it started, but I have become obsessed with jellyfish when we visit aquariums.

    Aquarium of the Pacific – 2006

    Monterey Bay Aquarium – 2011

    Aquarium of the Pacific – 2012

    I especially love watching the jellyfish dance. So much that I made a video from a recent trip to Aquarium of the Pacific.